Déviation
by icarly1969
Summary: The first rebellion failed. Their successors tried again. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratic. This time, unseen, other forces, dark forces, were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive. Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

_This is my first fanfiction and it is going to be a huge fic, so I'm kind of apprehensive. It's going to be a Percy/Nico fanfic, although there will be tons of other characters and pairings along the way and the romance development will be slow. I would really appreciate reviews to let me know how I'm doing with the story, especially what's going on, I let some of my friends read my plot and they said it got a little confusing... so let me know if it gets too confusing and twisted. Also, there will be weird pairings, but I'll sort them out eventually... they are there for a reason._

_I made a map and some family trees in case you need to keep track of the characters, and I'll post up a link somehow sometime later when I can figure out how to make them work. This story is inspired by "A Tale of Love and Thrones" by XTheSonofHadesX, and it is loosely based on Korean Drama Jumong._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)_

_Warnings: For pairings, there will be Yaoi and Yuri, and then there will be Guy/Girl. You could ignore them, but since the main pairing is Percy/Nico, you would probably be better off not reading. There's going to be character deaths, and out of characters for pretty much everyone unless you refer to the fanfic I was inspired by, and even then, there might be discrepancies. There may be fluff, wine, language, and some mature-rated content eventually. Also, this work is un-beta'd, as such, there might be horrendous run-on sentences._

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

Prologue:

"Father, we cannot hold our grounds. Apollo and his people are few, and the NightWatch is stretched thin, we have so few new members now that our existence is only known to our own people in Tartarus and those few populating Olympus that survived the fire. The West Wall will fall if we do not provide assistance."

"You know that what happens at the Wall do not concern the Di Angelos or the people of Tartarus. I cannot command the people to assist the NightWatch in defending the Wall, be it East, Centre or West. Furthermore, the only people in Mirage Exilé, land beyond the Wall, are those wild, unorganized tribesmen. Surely your people can hold against them. Unless there truly are supernatural in the beyond, like the rumours say."

"They have became organised. We suspect someone behind them, but we are no closer to finding out who is the brains behind this. All I am asking for is a few good fighters to help. Currently there are only seven of us from the NightWatch and the twenty-three from Apollo's party here, the rest of the NightWatch still has to guard the East and Centre Walls. We plan on infiltrating their base to destroy their provisions, then hope they die out from hunger. If they don't, at least we would have slowed down their invasion by some time, hopefully."

"A few good fighters. Theseus, you know who are the best fighters present here. You really would ask them to risk their lives to fight with you for you and the NightWatch? Do not forget that Anubis is already leading the party of fifteen to Olympus."

"They will not be fighting for me, father. They will be fighting for the whole of Tartarus, even the whole of Déviation. Offer them the choice. If they decline, I will not push, but we need the help."

"Very well. I draw the line at Hazel being drawn into the conflict, and Zagareus is needed here to do his duty."

"Thank you for your assistance."

"Do not thank me. This is not something to be thankful for."

* * *

><p>-In Olympus-<p>

Apollo sighed. Ganymede was working himself ragged on patrols to ensure that the tribesmen stay on the right side of the wall - the other side. However, the reports were not good. Their numbers were amassing, and there was evidence of someone actually with some brain cells behind their activities, although whoever it was did not show up on the camps. 'Never mind. Burning down their provisions would slow them down for a while, at least, if nothing else. Hopefully they will get burned too.'

The other thing troubling him was the report from Anubis, stating that a party from the NightWatch on the East side had went missing and was never seen again. They had came across one member, Boreas, but he did not remember anything, not even where he was when his party disappeared. Then, they were ambushed by some of the tribesmen, which further proved that there was someone behind the scene - those tribesmen were not smart or united enough to come up with this sort of coordinated attack. Anubis, Boreas and Charon, Hades' steward, survived and made it to Castle Araluen, the NightWatch stronghold. The report was sent to him through Ammit, Anubis' wolf.

He could never understand the bond between a Di Angelo and his wolf. From what he knew, each Di Angelo was given their wolf on their first birthday as a companion for them to cherish. They are as loyal to their wolves as their wolves were to them. Also, they are known as direwolves, special beasts only the Di Angelos possessed as they would not die of old age like normal wolves or pets, as they were life partners. They age as their owners did. They could be killed, yes, but they were clever and quick. There were eight in the family's pack, from what Anubis told him. Only the children bearing the Di Angelo name could have the wolves. Which means that the children of the girls in the Di Angelo family will not be given wolves.

There was Anubis' wolf, Ammit. Ammit was a grey wolf with a small build that ran very fast. He is the fastest in the pack. Cerberus was Hades' wolf. He was the Alpha wolf, the largest by far, and he was most likely capable of wiping out a squadron of soldiers on his own. The youngest daughter, Hazel, was illegitimate, but still a Di Angelo, as such, she had a wolf. Luna blended in perfectly at night as she was pure black and silent. Not as quiet as Lupa, Nico's wolf, though. Nico was the last son of Maria, who died at childbirth. He was also the one Apollo knew the least about. His sister, Bianca, was sly, as is her wolf, Nymeri. Nymeri would lure the attention of the enemy so that Bianca could sneak up on them to slit their throats. Theseus, third oldest, had Snow. Like his name suggested, Snow blended in very well with the snow often covering the ground in Tartarus. Save for his red eyes, one would never know he was there. Morgrem belonged to Zagareus, eldest male in the generation. He was a lot like Cerberus and while two wolves like that would often fight in the wild, the two of them got along fine. Occasionally, they would still fight, but, thankfully, they do it outside in the woods. The eldest daughter, Macaria, has Auguste, third largest wolf in the pack. She is a majestic looking wolf just as deadly and fierce as Macaria. However, Macaria left the family earlier on - nine, maybe eight years ago, going back and forth when she pleased. She had fallen in love with Eros La Rue of Fiamme di Guerra, and they were wed, although she never revealed her family to him. How she explained the wolf was unknown, although Apollo was present for their marriage seven years ago. Right after that, he left with his people to complete the task his father left him. From what he knew, she kept in contact with her family through her wolf and that Lady liked it in Fiamme di Guerra as the La Rue children liked her.

The fact remained, though, that they could be overrun any moment. There was only twenty-three of them, with seven from Theseus' party minus Theseus himself, the three remaining from Anubis' party, and, if they were lucky, some of the other Di Angelo children. The only reason the enemy have not attacked was probably due to the fact that they were not aware of what was going on the other side of the wall, thus believing that Olympus still stands and they need a great army to storm the place.

'Please, get here faster. Time is running out.'

* * *

><p>-In Anulēt-<p>

"This is the thirtieth time you missed your royal duties, Perseus. Hercules does not give me this much trouble, neither does Triton, why can you not be more like them? What's your excuse this time?" Jupiter demanded.

Percy replied with a hint of petulance, "It's not like I am actually needed there, I -"

"I need hear no more. Go back to your chambers." With a wave, Jupiter turned his back on Percy. Biting his lips a little, Percy bowed his head and retreated.

He planned to go to the library and start reading quietly. Unfortunately, Sally ambushed him while he was on his way.

"Why do you continue with this? You know you need to show up to do your duties." The worry was evident, and Percy can't find it in himself to be annoyed at her.

"You know that they do not need me, Mum. Why should I show up? Besides, I only worsen things. Remember what happened last time?"

Sally looked away from Percy for a while, clearly thinking about something, before turning back to him. "Percy, you need to learn to be less careless and forgetful. You know that if you continue like this, you would be useless to the kingdom."

"I'll do something about it, Mum, it's alright." Percy said, unconcerned.

"You'll try. Percy, you're fifteen. If you were raised in my time, you would have been at least proficient with a sword, if not more weapons, by thirteen. You need to learn how to fight. I know you prefer to be passive, but sooner or later you will have to pick up the sword and fight. It's easier to start learning now," Sally began.

"Mum..."

"No, Percy, listen. I cannot teach you to fight, girls can learn, yes, but I was never trained the way my brother was. I've asked Ajax, chief jailor of the Giruti Prison, to train you in the swordsmanship and martial arts I cannot teach you. Do not let your brothers find out about this, though."

"Why?"

"You were destined to do great things, Percy. One day you would understand. However, many people do not want you to achieve those goals, they would kill you if they could. Jupiter's protection is the only reason we are both here. Hercules and Triton may not understand your worth, but they will do what they could to keep you this way. This is one thing you could keep the upper hand on. Just promise me you would not tell them."

Swayed by her earnestness, Percy looked at his mother in the eye and swore solemnly that he would keep this a secret.

* * *

><p>- Fiamme di Guerra (Tribe-Land: Avertir) -<p>

"Leo, you're old enough. This caravan will go to Olympus and circulate there before returning, and I want you to go with them."

Leo looked down. 'Old enough. You just want me out of the way before I cause even more trouble between us and Cielo when the Castellans visit.' Aloud, he said, "Yes, father. So, I'm going alone?"

"You're going with the caravan, and you will stay with them. Do not wander off and get lost, Olympus is a barren wasteland, you will not survive there alone." Hephaestus said.

"Why are we going there, then? Isn't it unpopulated? No one would be there!"

"Those fools La Rue wants us to check the area as they could not go themselves, it would draw too much suspicion. No idea why they will want that, it is barren and there would not be anyone there regardless. There's probably something to do with that failed rebellion some fifteen years ago, but we are supposed to do what they ask without question, even foolish things like this. They protect us from Royaume, though. Not too much a price to pay now, right? Besides, it is just a two days extension to the same route."

"Why me, though? Charles would be much more qualified. Even Rachel could go!"

"You need exposure. Just go."

* * *

><p>- Castle Araluen -<p>

Ammit whined, weaving between Anubis' legs before bolting off to the door without warning. Anubis let him go, sensing through his wolf that Snow was on his way to Castle Araluen and that Theseus will probably arrive half a day after Snow did. waiting outside. The bittersweet triumph flowing through the link meant that Father has most likely approved. Wishing that he was wrong, Anubis turned to face his silent companion. Charon understood what was going on in the one look he exchanged with Anubis.

'Why did you approve, father? You know that this means sending my brothers and sister into a war-zone.'

* * *

><p>- Mirage Exilé -<p>

The moon hung in the sky, shining down on a woman sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed, her face tilted towards the moon. A shadow fell over her, breaking the peaceful image.

"Mother." The word hung in the air, almost palpable.

"Son. What is it?"

"We are almost there. The armies would be ready to march in seven days."

There was a pause. Then, "What of Minos?"

"He needs more time, he says."

"He can have all the time he wants. Let me know when he is ready."

"Yes, Mother."

After he left, she stood up slowly.

"You may not be alive anymore, Hyperion, but your children will pay in your place. Your family will rue the day you killed my brother and exiled my family."

She opened her earth-green eyes. "I am the Queen in the North. And I will see the throne of Déviation returned to us, whatever it takes."

* * *

><p><em>Not sure if it is a good place to stop, but, oh well. This is the prologue. The actual story starts five days after this took place. <em>


	2. Chapter 1: Get Lucky

_Chapter 1's done! Thanks to those who viewed my story and I really wouldn't mind a review or two too. I haven't gotten around to getting a beta yet, so forgive me for any spelling errors or grammer mistakes. You could point it out in the reviews too. This chapter is mainly on Percy. Enjoy!_

__Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)__

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

Chapter 1: Get Lucky

"Perseus, would you like to explain why you are late again?"

"I didn't mean to be. I just lost track of the time, I promise..."

"Don't promise me you won't be late next time. We both know you will be. Let's see, we're still at basics of different weapons and their histories."

"Why can't I learn how to fight now?"

"Because, to fight well, it is better to know the weapon you are working with well, and to so that, you need to know its history and how it works before you fight with it. There is also the fact that our weapon manufacturers are all decommissioned and it is illegal to own a forged weapon. So, we will stick to the history lessons and your endurance training until I can get you the weapons to fight with."

"Which weapon are we looking at today then?"

Ajax looked at the impatient person in front of him and sighed. "I heard that you are going out with your brothers and their companions to look for the Atlantis Trident."

"Yes, why?" Percy looked surprised.

"We'll start with that then. What do you know about it?"

"It is said to have belonged to Acidalia, Queen Regent before Atlantis fell as Adonis, the King, died earlier on. After Atlantis was conquered, the Trident disappeared. Some people say that only the true king of Atlantis will be able to recover it."

"Do you truly believe that?"

"Not really. It's just that, a legend."

"It is a legend, yes, but it existed. The truth is, it did not disappear. Acidalia hid it in a safe place for the next regent when Royaume invaded."

"Why?"

"She hid it for the same reason she sent her daughters away - "

"She had daughters?"

"Let me finish. The point is, she knew that Atlantis will be conquered sooner or later and the Trident was significant. If it breaks, the people's hopes will go as well. That could not be afforded. And, yes, she had daughters. Two, in fact."

"Why didn't anyone go and look for them?"

"People generally believed that they were killed when Royaume took over the household. Some thought that they were taken by the tribes from beyond the Wall the time they visited there before the fall of Atlantis and their parents simply did not notify people of their disappearance."

"How did you know about them, then?"

Closing his eyes, Ajax asked Percy, "Do I have your promise that nothing you heard here will reach your brothers' or your father's ears?"

"Of course."

"I was from one of the lesser noble families of Atlantis before. That was why they never found me. But I knew the elder daughter, I taught her how to defend herself in the short period of time before she left Atlantis for Olympus, the deserted wasteland west of your map of Déviation. It was razed to the ground."

Percy was raptured. "What happened to them?"

"No one knows. All I know was that they joined the rebellion against the Võitja family and were never heard from again. Back to the topic, the Trident was significant for a reason. No one talks about it anymore, but there used to be a belief that the Jacksons were originally tied to the gods who founded this land and could practice magic. The Trident was forged by the gods and given to the family as a symbol of their connection before the gates between their land and ours were sealed. It is also said that when the gates open again, the Trident would allow its wielder to control the oceans."

Percy was silent as he processed the information swamping him. Most of it was new and incredulous, like the "magical properties" of the Tridents, which would be just myths. However, the rebellion... he heard of it before, in the passing, but he never took it seriously. Why would anyone dare to oppose the ruling family of Royaume? They were just scary. He found himself asking, "What happened to the rebels?"

Ajax's face darkened. "They died in the fire that destroyed Olympus," he replied shortly.

Percy understood that as an indication not to ask more even though his curiosity peaked. He settled for asking if he could go instead.

Ajax turned back to his schedule and told him yes.

* * *

><p>"Perseus, are you done yet? We need to leave!"<p>

"Yes, I'm here!" Percy declared as he burst into Hercules' chambers, where Hercules, Triton's servant, Kira, Triton and Grover were waiting. He only had with him a water skin and a small pouch with a map and some medical supplies. "So, where are we looking for the trident at?"

"Weren't you listening yesterday? We're going to the Founder's Mountain in the Orthys mountain range where few people would risk going. That place is dangerous, misty and freezing. We're going because it is perfectly possible that the legendary trident was hidden there, where only the bravest of men would enter," Triton said, sounding annoyed.

* * *

><p>Hercules led the group as he knew the place better than the others, having gone there once. As they trekked pass and between foggy mountains, Percy got distracted by a flash of light he saw in his peripheral vision. When he turned his head to look, there was nothing there, so he turned back to the path. However, the light lingered in his side view, vanishing whenever he turned his head. On top of that, he realised that the others did not appear to have this problem. Grover, who was ahead of him, laughed at him when he asked about that light. "Percy, get your head out of the clouds. There's no lights there or here or anywhere in this range because it is uninhibited by people, the only light there is is the one from the sun and the one from our torch later in the day when it gets darker."<p>

The fifth time he turned his head to look at the light, he tripped over a root in the juncture and stumbled. He landed with an 'oof'. As he picked himself up and dusted himself off, he realised that they have moved on ahead. "Hey, Grover? Wait for me!" There was no answer. Slightly anxious, he hurried in the rough direction he thought they left in, taking the left path.

After a while, he had to admit that he was hopelessly lost. Not only was there the fact that he lost track of the path, there was nobody ahead of him and no one answering him when he called. The worst part was the fact that the place was mistier and dusk was falling, therefore, it was harder for him to navigate and see clearly. This caused him to stumble over all sorts of things.

As he attempted to retrace his path to the split where he lost them, he noticed the light again, except, this time, it was right ahead of him and did not disappear. Deciding to follow it since he was already lost, he trekked in that direction. He was greeted by some sounds of laughter, chatter and very bad singing as he arrived at the edge of a clearing of sorts. He pushed the branches aside and saw a campsite.

* * *

><p>~ Earlier on ~<p>

"Come on, cupcakes, let's get this camp set up! We're staying here tonight, where no pesky Royaume soldiers would poke around our goods." Gleeson Hedge hollered. He received an affirmative from his people in the trade envoy. As he returned to his caravan, he thought about the report he would have to give Hermes. In the previous trips, the ruins of Olympus were deserted, but this time, he noticed that there were signs of someone staying in some of the less burnt buildings. Whoever it was made sure to clean up after themselves and probably could have escaped the notice of the Royaume patrols, but he was better than them, after all, he grew up learning how to identify traces of life.

Deciding that staying in his caravan to brood was not going to change facts, he moved on to supervise the setting up of camp. Eventually, he decided on helping build the campfire. As the families on this envoy surrounded the campfire and had their dinner, he thought that this night was peaceful. Then, he noticed the unfamiliar boy standing at the edge of their clearing looking on. Without alerting the rest, he stood up and made his way towards the boy still staring at the campfire.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what are you doing out here alone?" accompanied the hand clapping down on his shoulder. He almost jumped out of his skin at the contact.<p>

Whirring around, he came face to face with a stout man about five foot tall. The man in question had beady eyes, a wispy goatee and was looking at him with some curiousity and concern.

Percy flushed a little when he realised that he had, indeed, been staring at the campfire with some longing for its warmth as it was frigid. Knowing that the stranger expected an answer, he replied rather honestly, "I got lost when I was separated from my step brothers accidentally. Haven't figured out how to get out of here yet."

He was rather surprised when the stranger offered for him to tag along the caravan as they made their way down the mountains. "You won't do anyone any good freezing up here alone."

Letting himself be led by the stranger to the campfire, he was handed a bowl of stew and told to enjoy it. The stranger had him introduce himself to the group of people. As he settled down and ate the food, he realised that he felt more at home among this group of strangers than he ever felt in the stifling court life even though he never met them before and couldn't even recall most of their names. After the dinner, Hedge, the stranger, offered him a bedroll and a spot in his caravan.

As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about how friendly these people seemed to be and how he could introduce his mother to them - she always seemed so alone in the palace.

* * *

><p>~With Grover~<p>

"Wait up, Hercules, Percy's gone!" Grover panted as he continued hiking after them.

"He probably chickened out and just went home," Triton dismissed. Hercules did not even bother to pause.

"If he went home, he would have told me, what if he accidentally took the wrong path and got lost?"

"Good riddance to him, then."

Grover gawked at the two of them. "But..."

"Just forget it, Grover," Kira advised him in a whisper. "If you keep this up, they'll leave you behind as well, and you can't find your way out of this place if you get lost. If Perseus truly was lost, there is no chance of finding him again. This place is worst than a labyrinth."

Grover quieted at that, fervently praying that Percy was fine and capable of getting home himself. He would go after him, except that Grover knew he couldn't possibly find Percy even if he tried and he was no use to anyone if he was lost up here. On top of that, Akira would probably be instructed to put a dagger in his back for "deserting" the group. He was a Kane after all, and anyone could tell you that the Phaeton family doesn't trust the Kanes.

* * *

><p>When the quartet finally reached the cave near the summit of the mountain, it was near midnight. They only stopped once to have dinner before continuing on their way. Hercules lit the torch he was holding before entering the cave, the other three following closely behind. There was no natural light in the cave. At the cavern, there was a single beam of moonlight shining down on a small case with a scroll inside.<p>

Excitably, Triton went on, removed the scroll from the casing and opened it. After studying its contents, he frowned. Hercules handed the torch to Kira, who accepted it quietly, before heading over to see what was on the scroll when he saw Triton's frown. Grover stood quietly with Kira.

After awhile, Hercules beckoned Grover and Kira over. There was a map of some place on the scroll, with a verse written on the side in an unfamilar language.

"Do you understand it?" Grover shook his head. Surprisingly, Kira could read the language. Impatiently, Triton ordered him to translate. The translated verse just served to confuse them even more.

"Maybe we could think a bit more clearly after some rest?" Grover offered rather timidly. He knew what Hercules could be like when a problem was unsolved, but he was tired from the hike and wanted to sleep. To his relief, Hercules agreed.

* * *

><p>Given the task of keeping the first watch, Kira thought over the verse on the map. He knew that he heard it before, but he mentioned nothing about it.<p>

"What breaks but never falls and falls but never breaks?

Look for the ash left in the forest flame's wake

Where all this coincides, unearth the keys in the glade,

The Gladiolus would point the way to the gate."


	3. Chapter 2: Let it Burn

_Thank you to the viewers! This story is still not beta'd. I can't promise to update once every fortnight, but I can promise to have one chapter every month, at least, if not two. This chapter will be focusing on what happened at Olympus or near it after Hedge left. Hope you like it!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)_

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

_Warnings: This chapter contains molestation, attempted non-con. Don't read the last 'page break' if you are not comfortable with this._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

Chapter 2: Let it Burn

At the foot of what remained of the once majestic fortress tower, a small group of thirty-three people were huddled together, looking up at the Wall. It did not sustain any damage from the fire that laid waste Olympus.

Will, Apollo's best scout, had been sent in to map the place out earlier. Charon stayed at Castle Araluen for administrative purposes while Boreas remained to recover. Nico and Bianca filled up for them.

'Those two kids could take down a whole army with their wolves,' Apollo admitted to himself silently.

At dusk, Will would be leading Nico, Bianca and Anubis to the camp's supply storage rooms. They'll set fire to it. The remaining twenty-nine will stay guard at the Wall, in case the infiltration fell through and they decided it would be best to launch themselves at the Wall and batter it down. The tribesmen had actually tried that before.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is the right place?" Bianca whispered.<p>

"Their cooks come here for supplies."

"Those things doesn't look edible," Anubis commented, eyeing the slime-like substances dribbling off some butchered - animal? - warily. There were piles of moss and algae all around, as well as some wilted lettuces. A pile of what looked like defecation sat forlornly in the corner.

"I know. It actually makes our job easier, since we don't have to worry about burning good food," Will stated.

"There's four of us, but the warehouses are really close together. If a fire starts, all would burn easily. In fact, there should hardly be any difficulties, the patrols are not well put together and the guards we passed were either drunk or asleep," Bianca commented.

"Don't you think this is too easy?" Nico asked. "Besides, the irregular patrolling schedule makes it harder to predict when the next group will come by."

"Let's just get this over with, Nico. The sooner we get out of here, the better off we will be. This place is really…" Anubis trailed off.

"There's actually a back-up storage shed nearer the centre of the camp where food for the chiefs are stored at. That place will be more heavily guarded," Will warned.

Nico pursed his lips. "I don't really like the idea of splitting up, but we don't really have a choice here. Will and I go to the back-up store and you two can do a quick job here. We'll meet back at the Wall with the others."

Will silenced the objections before they were voiced. "Nico is the smallest in size. If we're caught, he'll be able to slip out. Their cells were built for people their size."

Neither Bianca nor Anubis wanted to agree. They don't his capabilities, and this mission seemed to be going rather smoothly, but none of them were näive enough to believe that it would definitely end smoothly.

* * *

><p>By that time, night has already fallen and most of the tribespeople were gathered at the centre of the camp for food. Will and Nico crouched on the canvas acting as a roof for the occupants in the tent, observing the activities going on below them.<p>

"That tent over there?" Will pointed at a tent which was guarded by three people. Surprisingly, the guards were attentive.

"That's where I'll target, right?"

"Yes. Just, the chiefs sleep there too, so sneaking in to set fire might not be wise."

"Thanks for the warning."

Will nodded at that and lept off the tent, disappearing swiftly into the shadows.

When Will arrive back where Bianca and Anubis were at, they would set the fire, which doesn't give Nico a lot of time.

Thing was, the only items Nico actually have with him were the fire-starters, some petrol, his bows and arrows, a pair of throwing knives in his boots and a small, concealable dagger. And, of course, Lupa, who was roaming about in the pine forest near the outskirts of the camp. She would come of he called, but Nico didn't see any need for that so far.

'If breaking in isn't an option, then setting fire to it from outside is the only choice. But I don't want to get too close, because that would make it harder to escape through the chaos,' Nico thought.

It came to him that arrows were meant for long range and it would be much easier, since he was good with archery. Everyone in his family were excellent archers and he was no exception, especially since his built meant that physical combat will not end well for him. Deciding that this would be the best course of action, he took off his shirt and tore three strips off them before putting it back on. Those cloth went onto three arrows, and all were soaked in petrol.

* * *

><p>Hesitation would not help him, Nico knew. And the bonfire somewhat nearby would help mask the arrows as they make their way to their target.<p>

Lighting all three arrows, he sent them racing through the night sky to the storage tent. They sizzled a little and the moment they landed, the tent caught fire. Because the three arrows hit different spots, the fire spreaded much quicker and there was no doubt that nothing in that tent will survive. Some of the surrounding tents caught hold of the flames too, and the fire just grew bigger.

Fascinated by some of the colours, Nico watched for a while before turning to leave - and cursed himself silently for being right about things going too smoothly as well as staying that extra half a minute. Because the tribespeople surrounding the tent had spotted him, obviously.

* * *

><p>Anubis, Bianca and Will had made their way out of the camp with Ammit and Nymeria. As agreed, they scaled the Wall and searched for Apollo's party to wait for Nico. Through their wolves, the Di Angelo siblings felt the satisfaction that Nico had felt, so they felt relatively secure in the fact that he would return soon. From their spot on the Wall, they watched the fire spread around the camp and agreed that it was a beautiful sight, especially since some parts of the fire actually had different colours like purple or blue. At some places, the fire would flicker and die out, only to be revived by branch of fire nearby. It just showed how futile attempting to fight the inferno was. But Nico did not return, despite the obvious victory this round.<p>

A light snow fell some time after midnight, putting out most of the fire. Most of the camp was still left in ruins, though, like Olympus. The small fires that survived the snow died out eventually. Nearing dawn the next day, though, Nico still didn't show up. That was when they actually started getting worried.

Around noon, Bianca declared that she's going to search for her brother because if he didn't show up by now, then he must be in really deep trouble. He wouldn't worry them unnecessarily. Anubis was of the same mindset, but Apollo and Will together managed to convince the two to stay put for a while more. They staked out for the remainder of the day, but there was no sign of Nico or his wolf, Lupa.

After night fell, Bianca decided that she wasn't waiting anymore and Apollo agreed. They followed Ammit, Nymeria and Snow, Theseus' direwolf, down to the ruined camp to search for the one that didn't return.

* * *

><p>The clouds hovering over the camp that night had obscured most of the moonlight, so they couldn't have seen him too clearly yet. Nico still had the advantage of height and the cover of darkness. Staying at the same spot would be a stupid move though, because the tribespeople, while relatively undeveloped in terms of talking tactical moves and negotiations, were not completely dumb.<p>

They could just rip the whole thing apart. Some of them broke off from the group to assist in putting out the raging fire, but most of them came nearer.

Making his decision, Nico lept to the next canvas and continued, running across the camp. As he ran, he uncapped the bottle of petrol and left a trial of petrol. When he ran out, he jumped off the canvas and let a fire start. Turning, he sprinted away from the fire behind him and reached a dead end.

The fire was still burning, jumping from one tent to another and spreading all over the place, casting it into chaos. It was also catching up on him. Luckily, or unluckily, the dead end was a tent squished together with the others on either side. Taking his chance, he reached for the flap just for it to open and a leering tribesperson to reach out.

He backed away and half-flattened himself to the ground out of instinct, but the fire was close, too close and the heat was starting to burn. The tribesperson didn't back away, though, he came forward, and then there was no more room for Nico to back into. The leer was still there as he reached forward and promptly collapsed to the ground, holding his hand to his throat, surprised.

Breathing hard and sweating heavily, Nico clutched onto the dagger in his belt when he realised that there were more of them, that this wasn't the only one. But he lost one of his throwing knives, which gives him just his arrows, his dagger and his remaining throwing knife. With the fire seconds from consuming him too, it really wasn't a choice when he lept forward, aiming for the second tribesperson's throat.

* * *

><p>"This is useless!" Bianca nearly cried in frustration as she kicked at a piece of unburnt wood. They've been searching for almost three days now and there was no sign that anyone were even here except for the charred ruins and burnt remnants of people who failed to escape the fire. "Why can't we find him?"<p>

"What if..if he died in the fire?" Will cautiously suggested,

Bianca turned, eyes wide and slightly wild, hissing, "Do you think we won't know if he died? He's not dead, he survived, but we can't find him! And why didn't you stay with him and made sure he was - "

"Calm down, Bianca, I'm sure it's not Will's -" Theseus tried to placate her, but Bianca rounded on him and she was definitely glaring daggers.

"Why did you even join the NightWatch? If you didn't we wouldn't be here and Nico wouldn't be missing -"

Anubis placed a hand on Bianca's shoulder, forcefully turning her around and looking her in the eyes. "Look, Ann, don't be unreasonable. You know that we'll all be here even if Theseus didn't join the NightWatch to help and it wasn't truly Will's fault, Nico suggested the idea. We're stressed and worried about him, but please don't take it out on them, Ann, don't. You'll regret it later."

At the use of her pet name, Bianca quieted and looked down to the ground. Anubis hadn't taken that tone on her since she was six, and she never wanted to give him the reason to. Anubis sighed and steered her away. "You need to sleep. We'll continue later." Ammit and Nymeria trailed after them, ears drooping.

Theseus watched them go and turned back to Will. "We'll continue searching. We haven't finished the whole camp just yet."

Will nodded mutely and followed Theseus' lead.

* * *

><p>Nico could power through a fight with sheer willpower, but his endurance was the other thing he sorely lacked. Half of his childhood had been spent indoors, after all, since he was born prematurely and was almost constantly ill until he was six, turning seven. His older siblings' over-protectiveness stemmed from this, as did his ability to sneak around silently. Compared to normal people, his endurance level was relatively high, but he was incapable of holding his ground in a fight against a lot of strong opponents alone for long stretches of time.<p>

Which resulted in his current predicament. He didn't really want to fight, but flight wasn't an option given that the fire was pressing in on him from behind. Forcing him to go forward and continue taking them down without mercy, because they wouldn't show him mercy.

He lost his arrows somewhere and the bow had been broken by one of those brutes - that was one of his best, damnit - and all he had left to sustain himself was a dagger. One of them got hold of his knife and broke it.

He was running out of energy and he knew it.

The worst part was, his current opponent knew it too. He could tell. The tribesperson's eyes were kind of maniacal and wild, and he was definitely leering. This one was harder to take down than the others, too, because he actually knew how to fight. He was also armed.

After dancing around each other for a while, Nico slipped up. He got too close to the tribesperson and missed - the brute retaliated by grabbing his arm, subsequently breaking it.

Now, Nico has a high threshold for pain, but the shock and the pain of his arm being broken took a split-second to register and the white-hot flare that struck him had him automatically doubling up a little in response, breathing harder, freezing for a moment. That moment was all it took for the tribesperson to overpower Nico, pinning the boy to the ground and practically crushing his body, sandwiched as he was between the ground and the tribesperson who was at least five times his weight.

The tribesperson was too heavy. The weight made it really hard for Nico to breath properly. Combined with the smoke and the halt of the adrenaline rush, Nico passed out on the spot.

* * *

><p>"He isn't gone. I know he isn't," Bianca insisted.<p>

"I know, Ann. But he isn't here either."

"We shouldn't have let him go."

"What's done is done. He's gone for now."

Theseus held her as she broke down now, when it was just the two of them. "He can't be gone! He can fight and take care of himself but he shouldn't have to!"

"I know, Ann. Trust that he will find his way home."

"I promised to be there for him."

"We all did. But there's nothing we could do for him now, except pray that he is safe and will return to us soon."

* * *

><p>The smell was the first thing Nico noticed. The place reeked of sweat and blood and other bodily fluids Nico really did not want to think about. They had blindfolded him and placed him in a cage. A damp and musty cage.<p>

Nico tried to move and realised that they had taken the liberty to bind not only his hands but his arms and his ankles. His shirt had been in tatters from earlier on, so it did nothing in offering him protection from the chafing of the roughly hewn ropes they used to secure his arms to his body.

The ropes being secured tightly enough to cut off his bloodflow, numbing him, together with the constricted space of the cage he barely fitted in made it impossible for him to try freeing himself without help.

His weapons were all gone and he was pretty much helpless here.

He had no idea where he was at all, or how much time had passed.

There was a 'click' of something being unlocked. Being picked up and dumped rather unceremoniously on the ground was not nice. Especially since the ground was covered in a layer of slushy snow that was absolutely freezing.

It did not help that he landed on his left arm. White spots formed before everything seemed dark again. Then, in a very heavily accented english, one of those tribespeople asked, "Why did you bring the fire?"

Nico turned towards the voice and glared reproachfully. Of course, they could not see his expression. Someone kicked him in the abdomen, making him curl up on himself reflexively. "Answer!"

Nico did not respond. One of them, presumedly the one who kicked him, tilted his chin up and removed the blindfold.

The person's face was almost touching his. Nico felt a temporary flare of panic at the proximity. 'His eyes are blue,' Nico registered. He also realised that the person in front of him looked rather young, although he was also spouting the beard all of them do.

The male turned and yelled something in a foreign language at the others gathered around there. One of them grumbled something in response. He turned back to face Nico, staring at him in the eyes.

He nodded, as if he saw something he liked. He let go and stood up. Nico watched him go with some confusion.

They left him there and streamed off. From the feel, they tied his wrist with the figure eight. After a bit of struggling, Nico managed to free his right wrist. There was still the ropes around his torso, his arms and his ankles. Out of the constricting cage and able to see, it was easier to try maneuvering himself into a half sitting position.

Just as he was attempting, someone sat down beside him. His heart almost stopped.

"Trying to escape?" The hot breath brushed past his left ear. He could feel the stranger pressing against him from behind. The voice sounded like the one who demanded his cooperation.

* * *

><p>The wolf pounced on the guard, taking him down and killing him with a single bite despite the fact that he was at least three times the size of her master, who was about twice her size. The only thing that mattered to her then was that her master was in trouble and he needed help, that he was terrified and definitely hurt. She has already wasted too much time locating him.<p>

She had brown eyes tinted with yellow and was sienna coloured. She was a predator of the forest.

She had watched as the camp burnt down, staying in the forests as instructed. She had felt his victory, but it did not last. She could feel him panicking and then his side blanked.

He did not respond even after a while and she was worried. Those strange people were dangerous and big, they were also fast. She lost track of them and had just found them again. She would not lose her master.

* * *

><p>There were hands on him then. Cold. Big. Not shaking in the slightest. Not like he was, a little. They were sneaking under his tattered shirt at the sides. On the bright side, the ropes were loosened.<p>

The brute moved back and ripped his shirt off him. The cold struck him like a whip though. He shuddered.

Nico couldn't move. This wasn't happening. Not here. Not now.

Nico opened his eyes wide. The shock of what was happening overwhelmed him, it was too much. He didn't want this, he shouldn't even be here, but he was.

There was a hand on his lower back, fingers cold. So cold. Rubbing at the dip of his spine. It was freezing. The hand moved lower and lower and why couldn't he just react?

"I will take you so hard you will break, you're so small, you will be so tight…"

Why was he even here? He tried to escape now, but the brute had him pinned on the floor with his weight. The only good thing that came out of the whole thing was that the ropes binding him were mostly removed, which meant that if he could just get this damned brute off, he could remove the ropes around his ankles and run.

But there was no strength in him left. His left arm was broken. He lost a lot of blood, and his arm wasn't set. The wound was definitely infected. He was numb, stiff, from being tied up and stuffed into that cage.

The hand was down his pants now. Probably slick with spit, slimy, rubbing at his hole. Up and down, pushing in. It hurt. It really, really hurts. It was big, too big, it just felt so wrong.

The finger was pushed deeper in. Nico squeezed his eyes shut. The finger crooked and the pressure made him gasp and he felt really violated. It was making his stomach hurt, make him want to throw up, he couldn't do this, he can't.

* * *

><p><em>I actually didn't plan on this but it just came out on the document and I just thought that it would work. I am kind of sadistic though. :P Please don't blame me for this! A bit of the next chapter on Nico:<em>

As if someone heard him, the deadweight disappeared. The pressure on his ankles loosened, too, and something nuzzled his side. He cracked open one eye...


	4. Chapter 3: Possible Allies

_This story is still not beta'd. I'm sorry! Percy and Grover are the main narrators in this chapter. There is one part where Kira will sort-of narrate, but it is very short. For those people who doesn't like OCs, I hope that you wouldn't mind Kira so much, he will not be a Mary-sue type character, I promise. He will play an important part, but he is still a minor character. I just need someone people doesn't know anything about there. You'll see why in later chapters, once I'm done with Nico's part. You get to know what happened to Nico too! Don't worry, I'm not killing him off now. _

_On a separate note, I'm so glad that people are actually reading this story! Thank you to the viewers!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)_

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

Chapter 3: Possible Allies

"Hey, cupcake, we'll be dropping you off here! Get home safely!" Hedge called from his position on the leading horse. Percy, who was daydreaming as he rode at the back, snapped back to reality with a start, almost falling off his mare, Crescent. She startled a little and he automatically went on to calming her down. Feeling heat rising up his cheeks when he realised that he was caught daydreaming and now had no idea what was going on, he looked around, the word 'confused' pretty much plastered on his face.

Hedge laughed and rode over. "This is border of Anulet, as far in as we can get without a pass. So, we're dropping you off here," he explained.

Percy scanned the area once more and nodded his understanding, hastily dismounting. He handed the reins to one of the others walking near there and received a pat on the back from him.

"Don't get lost!"

With that, the merry troupe of merchants streamed off.

Percy stood there, one hand raised as an acknowledgement of their parting of ways until they disappeared from sight. Then, he turned around and sighed. This was going to be a long, long way back.

* * *

><p>Grover woke to being shaken. He groaned and rolled over, trying to get comfortable and return to dreamland when he realised that the bed was rock-hard. His eyes opened rather wide at that realisation and he sat up rather quickly. Kira sat there, watching him silently. Grover felt a little creeped out by the intensity of the gaze Kira pinned on him, but did not have the guts to tell him to look elsewhere.<p>

Instead, he studiously ignored Kira's presence, choosing to look at anywhere but him, Hercules and Triton as he stretched, satisfied when he heard his bones pop back into place.

"Do you know what time is it?" Grover asked, stifling a yawn as he scanned the place.

"It is hard to gauge the time here," Kira replied in that almost monotonous way of his. As he was speaking, Grover's line of sight settled on a carving illuminated by a stream of moonlight filtering through a hole in the ceiling that none of them were aware was there.

A young man with wild, untamable and unruly hair stood at the edge of a cliff, facing inland, the gigantic ocean waves framing him. He had a glowing trident in his left hand and he was holding it up high, determination clear in his eyes.

Even in a carving, he radiated power.

* * *

><p>The Palace, his place there, was just a constant reminder of the royal functions and duties. Hercules and Triton, both before him, were perfect role models, setting the expectations everyone had for him. Everytime he failed, everyone would just attribute it to him being his mother's son more than his father's. All the attention and expectations stifled and suffocated him. The cliffs, just one step away from the oceans, had always been more of a home to Percy than the palace ever was. Being there was being free. There, no one would tell him what he had to do or what he is not supposed to do, he can do what he liked alone, exploring and creating his own stories for every place he ended up in.<p>

As a result, when he was younger, he spends the majority of his time there, wandering the cliffs alone, looking for ways down the face of the cliff and just having a great time. Every day, he would discover something new about that place.

Because he always wandered off somewhere with his mind in an entirely different dimension, the guards eventually stopped waiting for him to find them when he was done, rather, just leaving when dusk falls and let him find his own way home when he was satisfied.

Percy was not an idiot, but he was young. The first time he was left behind, he was scared and spent a long time lost. A kind soul found him and led him home the first time. After that, Percy stuck to the given time for a while before forgetting the time and being left behind again. After a lot of trials and errors, Percy eventually learnt the way to the palace from the cliffs.

Now, left at the edge of Anulet, alone too, he decided to just keep going on in the same direction. Eventually, he would find the cliffs, and he would be able to get to the palace from there. The cliffs were his place. This was once Atlantis, the ocean fortress after all. The city meets the ocean at the cliffs. And the oceans were his through birthrights, even if he did not know it yet.

* * *

><p>Grover positively gaped as he stared at the carving in awe. "Is that… the Lost Trident?"<p>

Kira looked on in silence.

"My gods… it is just as magnificent as it has always been said to be," Grover continued, sounding slightly breathless. "We're on the right track…"

"Is it a good thing that we find it?"Kira muttered.

Grover looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "What do you mean? If we find it, we will have hope once more!"

Kira did not reply.

* * *

><p>At dusk, Percy was still stumbling his way towards the cliffs through a sleepy village. According to some of the helpful children, the cliffs were not that far away. Percy hoped they were right. He just really wanted to go home, at this point in time.<p>

Something solid slammed into him. "Ow!" he bit out as he hit the ground. The figure scrambled to get up. Percy got a glimpse of his-her? face. The eyes were blue, the sort of blue which looked kind of ethereal reflected under the moonlight. (S)he had sharp, well-defined cheekbones and relatively light-coloured hair.

"Sorry," was all he/her said, before the person bolted.

"Wait up," he called, halfway off the ground, to discover that the person was gone.

Shortly after, a couple of people thundered past him. "Catch that little good-for-nothing-"

Percy was left sitting there, confused. He decided to think no more of this, although his conscience and natural curiosity had him wanting to investigate and maybe help the stranger who ran into him. As he stood up and turned to walk away, figure detaching itself from the shadows had him turning back.

A little girl who looked no older than eight approached him. She had glossy black hair and piercing black eyes which made Percy felt a little unsettled. There was an air of authority to her that she should not have been able to achieve at this age. However, she seemed kind of uneasy about this. It was just the feeling Percy had gotten, because she showed nothing.

A small part of Percy's brain told him that he should walk away from this when he still can and stay out of the mess that this whole thing is promising to become. Years of practice helped him ignore it.

* * *

><p>"This has to mean something," Grover told Kira as he touched the carving reverently.<p>

"Here, let me," Kira moved Grover aside and ran his hand over the carving. His hand came to a stop on the tip of the trident. He could feel a slight bump there.

He pushed down on it.

* * *

><p>There was no one else present who could possibly help him. 'I can't do this," Nico thought. 'I can't. Stop. Please, stop.'<p>

As if someone heard him, the deadweight was bowled off him and something furry, warm nuzzled his side. He cracked open his eyes. Lupa…

She sliced the bonds apart with her claws. She then looked at him imploringly. He could almost hear her urging him to run. He pushed himself up unsteadily with his right arm and winced a little, waiting for the dizziness to pass before looking around. They were in a clearing of sorts in the woods.

The tents set up all around were nicely arranged, perhaps even more organised than the camp he set fire to. It was pretty obvious this camp was not hastily set up.

'They had a backup base camp?' Nico was a little incredulous and slightly confused. None the transcripts he read and folklores he heard suggested anything about the tribespeople beyond the Wall having the intelligence to do backup plans. Having a backup food store was, perhaps, understandable, but a backup camp set up even nicer than the camp they were meant to stay in? That was really suspicious. It actually supports what Apollo and Theseus both suspected about someone being the brains behind this attack.

However, those with intelligence that many centuries ago had all rallied themselves, gathering together to build the Wall, a barrier cutting the tribespeople off to protect themselves. No one was left behind, at least, according to transcripts, no one was. Even if they were, it was a long time ago, they would not have survived alone.

'Perhaps the tribespeople evolved? But our family and the NightWatch had always kept an eye on them and there were no changes in their behaviours to suggest they had. This whole situation is atypical. What else?'

Lupa choose to let out a low whine at this time, interrupting Nico's train of thoughts and bringing him back down into reality with a jerk. He remembered his predicament and glanced at the person Lupa had bowled off him. Bile started rising up the back of his throat and he choked it back down, hastily scrambling backwards a little. "Right, girl. We have to get out of here."

Easier said than done.

* * *

><p>Apollo worried about how well Hades would take the news that his youngest son is lost. At least, he forced himself to worry about that as he did not want to keep his mind on the possible fates of the lost boy. He was just 11 years old.<p>

Gods…

Theseus had to go first because he had duties. He returned to Castle Araluen, Bianca following because Anubis insisted. Naturally, all their wolves followed. Will was encouraged to go with them. Apollo let most of his men go too, they would be a lot more of a help to the NightWatch than they could be to him now that the threat to Olympus is removed.

The whole party was down. They did their job, but nothing came out of it. Things on the other side were tame. Yet another caravan of traders are poking their noses where it doesn't belong. They did not move off as quickly as the previous group did, which made Apollo's men's jobs harder. They have to reroute to escape detection and those people are all over the place. To top it off, the monthly visitors, Royaume soldiers, were due soon.

The whole of Olympus was strictly meant to be a ruin and a reminder of the revolters' failures. No one was granted permission to enter and those who were caught 'trespassing' would be hanged in the capitol. At first, this caused many people to start speculating about what was happening in Olympus but Royaume officials came down hard, dealing out harsh punishments to any and all who talked about the failed revolution, people stopped talking. Apollo would bet everything he has that majority of the kids born after the revolution knew nothing of it. Those who knew of it kept silent. It hung over everyone's head like a storm cloud, oppressive and glaringly obvious. And there was nothing one could do about it.

Since their numbers were decreased, avoiding those soldiers should not be too hard, but with those traders roaming around, if they were found, the soldiers would stick around longer and search harder to ensure they did not miss anyone else.

As if the situation isn't already bad enough.

* * *

><p><em>So, Apollo will become one of the main narrators in the story too. So far, we have Percy, Grover, Nico, Apollo, Theseus, Leo(Prologue), Anubis, Queen in the North, Lupa (Sort of) and Kira(Sort of). Guess who the mysterious 8 year old Percy met was? And try to figure out who that HeShe/It who bowled Percy over was. It shouldn't be that hard._


	5. Chapter 4: Impressions

_Trying to write Leo's narration was really hard and Jason's narration was even harder. I almost gave up trying to write them. Actually, I did give up trying to write for Jason, but I did include Frank's and Chris' narrations. Leo's narration was not deleted, though, because I really wanted to give him a try. I'll probably start with Thalia/Artemis' narration and possibly Poseidon and Sally before...( I'll not spoil this"). I'll apologise for Leo being ooc as I really love the way Rick wrote him in Lost Hero and Mark of Athena (Not so much House of Hades) but I might not be able to get his voice. Just for you to know, Frank, Chris, Jason and possibly Leo now are all minor narrators who would be combined whenever I write something on their side when Apollo, Nico and Percy are not around. On with the story! (Still not beta'd)_

_Update, 22/5/2014 - I've changed some parts near the end as I realised that the story cannot work if Leo met Nico on the right (safe) side of the Wall._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)_

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

**Chapter 4: Impressions**

The caravan was basically a box with a door, two handles, four wheels and pulled by four horses. Not that Leo was complaining. Hey, sitting in a box totally beats riding a horse or walking, thank you very much. Horses does not like Leo. The distaste is mutual. The downside, though, is that he has to share it with three ladies from Deizar - Echo, Juniper and Katie Beauregard. Another tribe paying tribute to the La Rues, just like Avertir, the tribe he came from.

Leo did not like them at first. They were not nasty, no, Leo could deal if they were nasty. The real problem was that they were too nice. Leo found that a little suspicious and was wary. Being stuck in a box with someone does wonders for your friendships, though, as Leo discovered. They did pit stops at the villages they pass to do the trading, but the majority of the time was spent on the road. None of the girls minded falling asleep in the box with Leo around. After about a week stuck in the box together with the three of them, Leo soon became uneasy friends with them. Another week and they were close friends. It helps that Leo was a naturally friendly and easy-going person, too.

Leo discovered after a while that he was glad his father sent him away on a trip. Without the prior knowledge that Leo was the son of the head of the Avertir tribe, people started treating Leo as an equal for the first time. Instead of just bowing down to him and giving in to his demands or agreeing that he was right like the people he interacted with daily, these people he met are not afraid to point out his mistakes and talk back. They also talk a lot more than the people back home did. Unlike the limited types of people he met back home, there were a lot more here - people who are wealthy and rich, people who are poor, old storytellers or travellers with wild tales of adventures or myths and legends passed down from generation to generation, butchers, maids and all the other people who would patronise their trading caravan.

For the first time, he was interacting with people who does not already have an expectation of him. For the first time, he had to earn others' respect too. This did wonders for his ability to interact with others and his self esteem.

As the youngest in his family, he tended to be overlooked. He learnt to joke and be laid back because that was the only way he could get people's attention, the only way he could get them to listen to him, really listen. It never worked, of course, but they did not ignore him, at least, even if the only time they responded were to give exasperated sighs or tell him to bother someone else.

His older siblings' stellar achievements did not help much either. Charles, the eldest in the family, was nineteen, the best blacksmith in the tribe excluding their father and married to Silena La Rue. Bast, eighteen, was roaming somewhere in Déviation, possibly in Anulet or the plains or the mountains with Artemis' Hunters. She left with them when she was fifteen and decided that she could do so much more with her life if she swear the oath and take the other Hunters' as her family. Given that the Hunters were practically a legend amongst people, the fact that she was allowed to join them raised the bar for him. Rachel, third eldest and currently seventeen, was an artist with an eye for beauty that rivalled Aphrodite and her daughters. She was also good with throwing knives and almost never miss.

Leo? Leo was the joker who never took anything seriously and could never excel at blacksmith work. Sure, he could put together anything he want with what he had, but he could not work in the forge like his brother. He could fix and repair all he want, but as long as he could not build and forge, he was not a blacksmith in the eyes of the people. Artist? He could draw blueprints, but he was the only one who could understand them at the end of the day. Warrior? Well, he was handy with a hammer and could generally work with whatever he had, but he was never excellent with anything. Nothing really felt right for him. Archer? Never mind. He would not miss the target, but he could never hit dead centre either, not like Bast could before she left to join the Hunters. That meant that he was pretty much useless as far as his people were concerned. His lack of tact probably helped things along.

As they trundled along towards Olympus, Leo learnt a lot more from the people he was interacting now than he did from the stuffy tutors his parents employed to educate him. It was not really fair that they did not do that for his siblings at all. The thing he learnt the most about, though, was the failed rebellion.

Turns out that forbidding the people from talking about it only make people want to talk about it more. Of course, they took extra care to ensure no one from the Empire could hear them, but they were willing to talk about it - only if prompted. Leo was naturally curious, and there was only so much you could learn from palace gossip.

He realised, of course, that most of the stories were not accurate, they varied so greatly from village to village that it was easy to tell that they were either really exaggerated or entirely fabricated, but he was willing to take things with a pinch of salt.

* * *

><p>As the party neared Cielo, the atmosphere changed. It was subtle, and an outsider would never notice, but Frank could tell that the twelve guards following them had sat up straighter than they usually do - he did not think it was possible, but there you go. There was less chatter, too, and all of them had readjusted their weapons so they could reach it easily.<p>

The reason was simple. Frank may not be as old as the rest of the party, but he knew enough. Their family does not get along with the Castellans.

According to Piper, though, once upon a time, when the land was still split in only Alagaesia and Regno di Domani, their families used to be very close. The Castellans ruled the land while the La Rues were their ambassadors. However, one day, a Kãdriez, the ruling family of Regno di Domani then, saved the La Rues from damnation - the details were not clear, as it was a long time ago - and the head of the family decided to swear fealty to the Kãdriez family to pay back the debt of gratitude. The Castellans saw this as a betrayal and they had never gotten along since. After Royaume people invaded, the ruling families of Alagaesia were split into two - one side wanted to help and the other did not. The Castellans were on the second side. When Domani perished and the Kãdriez were exiled, all the families supporting them were either massacred or forced to serve the new rulers, the Võitja family. The La Rues were one of the families who were executed. So, when Ares La Rue came back and managed to claim a land of his own, they were more than shocked. On Ares' side, he passed on his anger towards the Castellans for letting them fall to his eldest children. The two houses were not feuding, not yet, but the strained relationship was just barely cordial.

Eros, the current head of the La Rue household, was leading the party with his wife, Macaria, riding alongside him. Phobos had stayed behind with their mother, Aphrodite, to manage affairs in Fiamme di Guerra and Silena had stayed with her husband, Charles Beckendorf, in Avertir to take care of their one year old, Eragon.

Thalia and Jason Grace had tagged along and were right behind the two of them. They were as good as family, after all. Artemis had left seven years ago and her twin, Apollo, left last year. Apparently, Eros planned to honour their father's promise to Zeus and take care of his children for him.

Frank really had no complaints about the arrangement, although Thalia and her attitude scares him slightly and Jason was… he was a natural leader and someone who was good in almost everything. Someone Frank could never hope to compete with. Of course, this meant that Frank always felt a little pressurized whenever he had to talk to either of the Grace siblings. He hid it pretty well, but Clarisse saw through it. Surprisingly, she did not say much about it, although that might be because she had no reason to tease him about it - she herself was slightly in awe of the whole Grace family. The other person who realised his conflicted feelings towards the Grace siblings was, surprisingly - or perhaps not, Macaria.

Truthfully, Frank had no idea what to think of his eldest brother's wife. She just showed up one day with Eros. When he brought her home, Ares had laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, claiming that this was the true La Rue spirit, while Aphrodite had looked mildly horrified before settling into the role of a good hostess and trying to find out what she could about this girl. The only thing she got out of the fourteen year old Macaria was her name, her age, the name of her pet wolf and the fact that the wolf in question would most likely be living with her. She handled the questions thrown at her with ease and grace, directing the topics away from her without anyone realizing.

After she retired to her room that night with Eros, the rest of the family had gathered around to share what they thought of her and the deduction and general consensus was that she was definitely raised by nobles, although no one could come up with a logical explanation as to why she had a wolf for a pet.

They had cornered Eros the next day and had bombarded him with questions. All they learnt was that he knew as much about Macaria as everyone else did and that he still intended to marry her when she turn fifteen.

Her wolf, Auguste, turned out to be much friendlier than expected. She tolerated them petting her and playing with her - she even let Frank ride her when he was younger, around five or six. Every now and then, though, she would disappear for a few weeks. Her presence was always sorely missed. Macaria never explained why she disappears, though. Eventually, they learnt to classify this under "things they will never understand about Eros' wife". At the top of the list was the mystery of where she came from.

Even now, eight years later, they knew hardly anything about her past. Through the years living with her, they learnt many things about her, including her favourite food, preferred weapons, the fact that she was a good ruler completely capable of making fair judgements and that she was so good at telling when someone was lying that she was the unofficial "lie detector" in the family. They found out that she was not only good with swords, she was also an excellent archer who could hit centre on a target 60 yards away. Frank was the best archer amongst his siblings and he had trouble with targets 40 yards away. Aside from that, she was very close to her wolf and she was very protective.

None of that could help them figure out a thing about her life before Eros.

Frank did not want to care for that. What he did want to care about was the fact that she helped to coach him in archery and stuck up for him when Clarisse and Phobos teased him about his inability to handle a sword with grace. That she found out about how Frank felt towards the Grace siblings and promised not to tell anyone.

However, he was a La Rue. Their family was under the list of people Royaume wants to eradicate. The only reason they were not executed was the fact that killing them without any reason will stir up feelings of resentment. The people of Fiamme di Guerra were well equipped, capable of fighting and could most likely take out the majority of the Royaume soldiers before going down themselves. As such, Royaume soldiers had taken to poking around in every nook and cranny, looking for reasons to try them for treason. If they were tried and executed for treason, not all of the people of Fiamme di Guerra might fight back. There would not be enough resentment and hatred, a real reason for them to start a revolt.

Macaria was a lady, anyone could see that. She was also good in combat and well versed in the art of diplomacy. She was almost too good to be true. Sure, she could not ride a horse well and, while she could coexist with her wolf, the hounds they kept absolutely hated her. She had no history, though. No family, no background, nothing. It made her suspicious. It made it hard for Frank to trust her, no matter how much he wants to.

* * *

><p>Chris was really exasperated. Travis refused to stop pestering him as he apparently could not understand why everyone was in such a scramble over the welcome assembly for the La Rue party. According to him, they were supposed to be the enemy, so there was no need to treat them well. Both him and Connor were bemoaning the fact that they were not the ones in charge. They then spend the remaining time whining about the clothes they were dressed in and that they were expected to actually be present this time. Suffice to say, Chris was not in the best of moods when the La Rues arrived.<p>

This was their first diplomatic envoy since Ares had passed away and it would be their first time meeting the new head of the household, Eros. Before this, it had always been only Ares and Aphrodite.

When the group arrived, Chris was pretty sure that this was the wrong group. At least, he did not expect Eros to bring his whole family along. There were nineteen people - and a wolf. He had heard rumours about how the Eros' wife kept a wolf for a pet, but he had passed it off as just a tale. This was supported by the fact that he had never seen any wolves there when he attended the wedding seven years ago. That was the first and the last time he had visited the La Rue household's home. It would appear that he was wrong.

He was not the only one who had noticed the wolf. Travis and Connor were both eyeing it with something suspiciously like glee in their eyes. 'I need to warn them about the consequences of playing with dangerous animals,' Chris thought. He was not entirely sure if the wolf was tame and he did not want to take risks.

After Eros dismounted, he helped his wife - Macaria - dismount. She was regal and beautiful, with a subtle air of deadly grace. Just like her wolf, a majestic creature who moved with an elegance Chris did not thought was possible, winding its way through the horses to stand at attention beside her. Chris decided, after one look at her (and her wolf), that this was someone she did not want as an enemy.

Chris watched as Eros introduced the people he brought along. The guards had stood way back. The remaining had dismounted and stood in a neat row. The first to be introduced was a girl with shoulder-length black hair and electric blue eyes. She stood with her head held aloof, as though she was someone of a higher station. There was something about her that makes one think of an ice sculpture - cold, untouchable and beautiful. From the rumours spread around, she was good with spears and shields. Her name was Thalia Grace.

Her brother, Jason Grace, looked completely different from her - he had cropped blonde hair and while his eyes were also an electric blue, they were less… stormy than his sisters'. He was also a lot friendlier, at least, he did not radiate that 'touch me and you will regret it' aura his sister and one of the other girls do. That girl in question was a big, tall girl with long, stringy light brown hair and brown eyes. She looked like she could snap any of them in half should she choose to. She made Chris very wary. According to Eros, she was fourteen. She looked angry, but that could be her default look.

Her sister, Piper, had chocolate brown hair that was cut unevenly with thin strands braided on either side of her hair and eyes that change colour like a kaleidescope, going from brown to blue to green. Her skin was dark and tanned. She was beautiful. Actually, as far as Chris was concerned, all the girls in this household were beautiful. And definitely at least a little dangerous. The people of Fiamme di Guerra were known for their combat skills, after all, and the La Rues were their ruler.

The youngest there was Frank, a somewhat large and stocky boy with a slightly babyish face. He stood at attention, but his mind was clearly somewhere else. Chris decided immediately that, out of everyone in the family, he was the least threatening.

* * *

><p>Olympus was really a ruin. Leo was almost horrified by the destruction the fire had caused. Looking at what was left, though, it was not actually that hard to picture how this place must have looked like before the fire. He still did not understand why they had to stop here, but he was almost glad that they did. He had heard so much about this city, he would not have believed it was destructible if he had not came down here to see it for himself.<p>

The Beauregardes obviously shared his sentiments. The caravan leader had warned them to be careful when they wander around as there would be Royaume soldiers patrolling. They knew that they would be executed if they were caught, and that was incentive enough for them to be extra cautious.

Leo had left the girls behind somewhere and set out for the Wall, to see if it was as legend had painted it out to be. He could see the outline of it, but he wanted to be there, at the foot of the Wall, if only to say that he had accomplished something none of his siblings had accomplished yet.

He wondered if the Wall really was home to a group of people who were silent and fast and deadly too. The NightWatch, they were called. Many had spoken about them, and they were told as myths, legends. However, of all the stories he was told, this legend was the only one that seemed believable.

It says that the NightWatch is like the male version of Artemis' Hunters.

To join Artemis' Hunters, one must swear an oath to forsake marriage, their titles, their families and take the others in the Hunt as sisters. They defend the people of the land from criminals and the unjust, a group of vigilantes that the Royaume people were unable to catch. To join the NightWatch, one must also swear an oath to forsake marriage, their lands, their titles and their families, taking in the others in the NightWatch as brothers. However, they defend the people of the land from wild tribesmen and dangers on the other side of the Wall by guarding the Wall. The main difference, though, was that while people knew that the Hunters of Artemis existed, only a handful believe that the NightWatch is real.

Leo is inclined to be part of the minority. Who knows, maybe he could join them some day? Then he would be like his sister, Bast, except way better, because his sister was a vigilante, but he would be a legend. A myth. Like the heroes he read about. Just, hopefully, without the 'dying young' part.

Maybe he could persuade these people to teach him to use a sword. Then, he would know a bit more other than to "run them through with it" and "whack them on the head with the flat side of the blade". Probably. With his luck, though, he could possibly be the first one that these legends could not drill the basic sword-fighting skills into. Maybe his name will go down in their history for that.

Without quite realising it, he had reached the foot of a fortress tower along the Wall. He looked up. "Wow…" he breathed. He looked behind him. None of the others were around. He looked back at the Wall.

"A look from the top wouldn't hurt, would it?" He muttered, even as he was walking around the base of the fortress looking for an entrance.

There was no visible ones. As someone who grew up with a whole group of forgers and artists, he was good at spotting the difference, though. He walked around again. There was one small patch on the walls that was smoother than the rest… He placed his hand on it and pushed.

As it sunk in, Leo could hear the grinding of the gears as they turned and a part of the wall detached itself from the rest, disappearing into the tower. He stared into the dark space that was not even lit by torches. He looked behind once more.

"I'll only take a while. Just one look," he promised, wetting his lips and stepping in.

He wasn't quite sure who he was promising.

* * *

><p><em> I just realised that when planning this story, Annabeth was completely left out. Because I already have the basic plot materials up to chapter ten or so, she will only start getting her own narrations and make an actual appearance then. I'll try to make mentions of her to make up for it. Sorry!<em>

_Oh, and is it really that hard to figure out who the two unknown people in the previous chapter was? I really hope not. With the thing about NightWatch and Artemis' Hunters, I just realised that they were pretty much a reflection of each other. Except that the Hunters get immortality, and the NightWatch people does not. In this story they are even, though. With the last scene, I guess I went overboard with the "feels like something is looking at you" thing. I mean, twice with Percy and now with Leo. There wasn't really a lot of different ways to introduce _ though... Three guesses what Leo really encountered?_


	6. Chapter 5: Don't Look Back

I apologize for not updating for this long as I had to deal with exams and duties as a journalist in school. I have also hit a brick wall when writing this chapter, which made it hard to finish. In the end, I figured out what that wall was - namely that there was no possible way Nico could get Lupa over the Wall alone without being some sort of superhuman. Therefore, I have decided to change the last couple of paragraphs for the previous chapter. Please go back and reread if you get confused when reading this chapter. Thanks! This chapter will mainly be Nico/Leo (narrating).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)

Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive.

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

**Chapter 5: Don't Look Back**

The moonlight filtered through the pine woods. There was patches of light here and there, illuminating the ground. Nico made sure to stay clear of those patches, sticking to the shadows. Lupa was there with him, leading him away from the camp. He stumbled a little and caught himself, going very still, hoping that no one had caught that tiny sound he made. Luckily for him, no one came running.

The two of them had spent the last two days playing hide-and-seek with the tribespeople and their hounds. Nico could have used the trees to get out without being noticed, but he could not leave Lupa behind. She was amazing, but she could not climb. They had actually made it out of the camp and had covered a good distance when the barking had started, indicating that the people have finally noticed that they were gone.

Nico's left arm was still completely useless. Now that they were out of danger, the exhaustion was catching up. Having to go for days with almost no food and water was probably not a good idea, either. They had passed by a small stream some time earlier, but Nico was not desperate enough yet. He's not risking the diseases he might contract from drinking the muddy water. Right now, though, he would give anything to have something he could drink.

Lupa whined low, nudging at his calf. He smiled down at her. "We'll figure something out, girl. We'll be fine," he whispered. He looked around. The honest truth was that he could not see a way out of this. Even if they somehow made it to the Wall, how was he going to get her over it? He probably could have managed, but he had no ropes and his left arm was out of commission. He would be having a hard time getting himself over the Wall, there was no way he would be able to manage Lupa too.

* * *

><p>The stairwell spiralling inside of the tower was as dark as Leo had expected. There was not a single strand of light. The darkness was starting to get to Leo - without being able to see, he had one hand out in front to sense for obstruction and one hand on the wall for support and to guide him. He had to go slowly, for fear of running into something. This irked him. He was already here, though.<p>

The only weapons he had on him were a pair of daggers that he was not really sure how to use. If he ran into someone dangerous up there, he would not stand a chance. He hoped that he would not run into anyone at all, really. He did not want to take the chance.

He had lost count of the number of circles he had taken in this endless spiral when he felt the door with the hand he held in front of him. A low burn of anticipation and excitement rushed through him as he pushed the door open. The door gave way without much resistance, silently. His heart hammered.

The sight of the room disappointed him at first. It looked just like an unused storeroom, layered with dust and spiderwebs. Then, he noticed the rack in the corner. Without thinking, he found himself crossing the room to get to the rack. As he stood in front of it, his eyes widened when he realised that it was filled with weapons - spears and the likes of it. Designs he had never seen before, excluding the few he vaguely recognise from peeks into some dusty, banned tomes buried underneath mounds of other books. This caused him to turn to the trunks and cases in the room, wondering what was in there.

Within moments, he had one of the lids flung open. The trunk was filled to the brink with arrows - actual arrows reinforced for long range shooting. The next one was filled with crossbows, the one after that with short-range arrows, the next one with blowpipes, darts, every trunk was filled with a different sort of weapon. The incredulity and disbelief he felt increased proportionately to the number of trunks he opened. 'How could all this be sitting here and never get discovered? These are treasures, gems, precious items that could help us against the Royaume people!' He tore through the trunks with a sort of manic enthusiasm. Then, he arrived at a case. It was just like all the other cases in the room. Something about it compelled Leo to slow down and pause, though. His hands started shaking a little, involuntarily, as he unlatched the case.

* * *

><p>In his head, Nico cursed using words in a mix of all the languages he knew. That was a lot, really. He was shivering now, too, and he knew that his time was running out. If he stayed here, he may not be able to continue evading them. There was a slim chance he could get out of this mess if he dashes across the empty… courtyard? to the Wall. If he did not do this now, though… The choice was made for him, already, but he did not want to do it. 'I've put it off long enough. It's now, or never.'<p>

He looked at Lupa. The wolf looked at him. He could tell that she understood what he wanted. They both looked towards the Wall, which was barely visible from where they were. They would try to make it. First, they need to cross the forest.

* * *

><p>There was a double scythe nestled in the case. The design was sleek, simple and strange. It was nothing like what Leo had ever seen before, be it from books or real life. The same thing went for the unfamiliar symbols carved onto the snath.<p>

It was beautiful.

Gently, almost reverently, he lifted it up and felt it. The scythe balanced perfectly. It felt like it was made for him - more his weapon than any of the swords he had made or handled before ever did. There was a strip of cloth wrapped around the centre of the snath - to help the wielder of this weapon have a better grip, Leo supposed. He held it up against the window. The last light caught the blade and reflected off it. He stared at it, a little hypnotized.

'Last light of the day at dusk...Wait. Dusk?' He looked at the sun coloured sky out of the window from where he was standing and back at the door he came through. 'I'm late! I was supposed to be back there...'

He moved hurriedly to put the scythe back in the case. When he latched it shut, though, he found himself unable to walk away from it. He frowned, forcing himself to walk to the door. 'I really need to go...'

He turned back. Looking at the case, he contemplated his options. He couldn't bring himself to leave without it, but he could not keep it either. There was no way he could bring something like this home with him without having to answer the question of where he got it from. Not to mention that if the soldiers of Royaume found this, they would execute everyone from the caravans on grounds of being in possession of an illegal weapon. But…

He found himself walking back to the case and kneeling in front of it. He looked at the window then. 'It wouldn't hurt… We would know if there really was a danger on the other side, or if they could help us… And I would need this for protection too...'

Carrying the case, he walked to the window and looked out. Mountain ranges and the setting sun. It was scenic, beautiful. Snowflakes were falling down. Leo looked at them a little curiously. He was pretty sure it was not snowing when he entered the tower. He leaned forward a little and looked down. It was not the layers of snow covering the ground which caught his attention, though.

'People…?'

* * *

><p>By the time they made it to the edge of the forest, it was almost dusk the next day. Nico was freezing by now. He was pretty sure that snow was not supposed to be so cold, but he was chilled to the bones. The tattered shirt was doing a horrible job in keeping out the cold.<p>

Even Lupa seemed to be feeling the effects of the cold, though. That meant that something was wrong, Lupa was born to live in snowy places. However, Nico really couldn't focus enough to try to figure out what was really wrong. Besides, he had other problems to think about.

From here to the Wall, there was an empty expanse of snow. The snow falling would probably cover the footprints he would be leaving behind, but he would need to be able to make it across first. From here, the distance seemed daunting. He was a sprinter, but his stamina was never good and he was barely holding up. On top of that, he was still not sure how to make it up and over the Wall even if he reached there.

There was a chance, though, that a patrol from the NightWatch had dropped by one of the towers to stock up on their weapons and were still there. Possibly his siblings had stuck around as they knew he was not dead and waited. The chances of that was not too high, though. The war effort was more important, Nico could understand that. People out there needed them, they could not waste time waiting around for him and they could not waste resources coming over to this side again to search for him. However, he had to try. He was not giving up now. He had bought himself some time, shaking off most of the tribespeople, but that time was limited. He set his sights on a tower and straightened up a little.

"Come on, girl. We're going to run for it," he told Lupa as he prepared to start sprinting.

* * *

><p>From his vantage point, he could see the land area clearly laid out. There were a couple of rivers winding through the forest, as well as a frozen lake. That was not unusual if the vast expanses of snow was anything to go by. However, the ice on one of the rivers was cracked and coincidentally, there was a very dense patch of trees next to it. Leo studied that area for a while before deciding to investigate that area. He remembered that there was a coil of rope somewhere.<p>

After removing the ropes from its dusty corner, he improvised with a chest of something that looks like grappling hooks and a shield from an armour set, making a sort of pulley system he could use to lower and raise himself with ease. Satisfied that it would stay in place, he sat on the window ledge a little cautiously and moved the platform he fashioned with the shield out. He made the mistake of looking down from here and felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he adjusted the case from where it was slung across his back and focused on making sure the shield would stay in place. Steeling his nerves, he took a deep breath and gingerly shifted his weight onto the shield.

Immediately, he could feel his weight on the rope. His arms almost gave way, not used to this weight. It was the sheer force of the will to survive which enabled Leo to hold on. After he realised that he could not possibly hold his weight forever, he started releasing the rope a little by a little. The first drop almost made him let go, but he really did not want to die. Reaching the bottom was a relief.

There was a little more rope than he needed. From this side, looking up, he could appreciate how well the design of the Wall was. It was almost impossible to distinguish the tower from the Wall.

He turned in the general direction of the cracked ice and saw something streaking through the air towards him. As he tried to remove the case from his back to take the scythe out, he was bowled over.

* * *

><p>Nico was almost halfway across the expanse of snow when he noticed that someone was sitting on the ledge of the small window in the tower he was trying to reach. His eyes widened. 'Idiot,' he thought. 'The whole point of building the Wall like this was to ensure that those wild, uncivilised bastards would not find the tower so easily and you reveal it like that because you want to jump?'<p>

This did not stop him from continuing to sprint, though. In fact, it encouraged him to go faster as his borrowed time was already running out. Besides, that fool clearly needs to be reeducated and that cannot happen if he died. Lupa looped ahead of him.

Then, he realised that the idiot in question was lowering himself on a platform. This confused him a little, but he did not thought too much about it.

Lupa reached that person before him, right after he reached the ground. She kept him pinned while waiting for Nico to catch up.

When Nico reached the spot, he was out of breath. Without thinking he let his momentum help him grab the person off the ground and onto the platform - a shield tied with ropes. He paused there, realising that there was no way this shield can get all three of them up there, even if the shield was one of those large ones that could cover the whole body of an adult.. He turned to look at the stranger. It was a boy probably a few years older than him. Muscled and capable of running, probably doing blacksmith work, but not a fighter. He would not last if he was left here on his own. Not trained enough to scale the Wall alone, either. Definitely not someone from the NightWatch. Nico frowned at him, before remembering that it was not the time to try figuring out who this person is and where he is from.

Taking a breath, he asked the person to get Lupa out with him first. Lupa understood what he wanted and looked like she was planning to run. The guy looked at him, as if he was a little mental, before looking at Lupa and deciding that it was not worth protesting. Then he hesitatingly asked for Nico and Lupa's combined weight. It was Nico's turn to look at him weirdly then, but he gave it.

The stranger looked down, seemingly calculating something, before hesitatingly telling Nico, "This rope is pretty durable… if we don't go too fast and make sure that we centralise the weight, the three of us could probably make it together. As long as...he… stays curled up, we'll have enough space."

Nico was too concerned with getting to the other side of the Wall to put too much heat into telling the stranger that Lupa was a she. After all, they were asking him for help, so they should probably be a little more polite.

The stranger - Nico had not gotten around to asking for names, so that was what the stranger would be called in his head - got them into position and hesitated a little, before looking at the two of them and telling them not to move off kilter. Then he started pulling the rope on the other side down.

It was easy to tell that he was not used to doing heavy work like this. Their platform had jerked down enough times for Nico to deduce that the stranger was straining to try pulling all of them up. If he had use of both of his arms, he would offer his help, but as it stands now, he would only get in the way if he tried to help. He was hesitant to put his life in the stranger's hands, literally, though he did not have much of a choice. The nervousness would not dissipate and he had to quash the fear that the stranger would accidentally let go. Lupa certainly was not too confident in the stranger's ability. Perhaps things would have been better if the blizzard had not started, causing the platform to sway and making the ascendence even less smoother. It was hard for Nico to stay still when all of his instincts were screaming at him to run as this place was not safe. Lupa was not faring that much better.

The only good thing about the blizzard was that even if the tribespeople had arrived, they would not spot Nico or Lupa or the stranger through the snowstorm. Small comfort, given that it was likely they would be plunging to their deaths.

Miraculously, they made it close enough to the top for Lupa to take a leap and go through the window. The sudden lightening of the weight caused Nico and the stranger to be jerked up faster, though. The moment they were close to the height of the window, Nico stepped off the platform. He felt a lot safer. Almost as an afterthought, he turned back and held the rope relatively still for the stranger. They then went about drawing the rope up and keeping the things away. Nico observed that the room was relatively unkempt, indicating that someone had went through the items stored here. He eyed the stranger out of the corner of his eye, deciding that it was probably this person. He kept quiet, though. He owed the stranger his and Lupa's lives, after all.

After a few moments of silence, the stranger cleared his throat. "My name's Leo. What's yours?"

Nico regarded him a little flatly. After a while, he decided that it would not hurt to let him know his name. "Nico," he said curtly.

The stranger, Leo, blinked. "Nico?"

"My name," Nico told him while inspecting the damage his arm had sustained. When he realised that it was going to be quite a while before he could fight properly with two arms again, he bit his lips and stared at the wound. He forcibly tuned out any other thought he could associate to this, spacing out a little. As a result, he startled and reached for his weapon when Leo took hold of his injured arm.

For a moment, he had forgotten that Lupa was not the only other presence in the room.


	7. Chapter 6: Rescue Missions

_Chapter 6 is finally up! It's been quite a while, as I was sidetracked a little by some other ideas, but I'm back! This chapter was supposed to be dedicated entirely to Percy and Grover, as they were neglected for three whole chapters, however, I ran out of things to write for Grover and Percy was not cooperative, so I moved the first half of what was supposed to be chapter 7 up. It actually fits with the chapter title, so I think it's fine as it is. Enjoy this chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)_

_Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive._

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

**Chapter 6: Rescue Missions**

"...A small part of Percy's brain told him that he should walk away from this when he still can and stay out of the mess that this whole thing is promising to become. He ignored it."

The first thing the girl asked him was, "Why are you still here?"

A little confused, Percy thought that she must have mistaken him for someone else. So he told her that he was just passing by, that he would not be staying.

She looked at him a little flatly. "Anyone knows that if you do not just 'pass by' this village if you are a male above the age of fifteen. Besides, we were just 'passing by' too, and look what happened to us."

"Us?"

"The four of us. The girl who knocked you over?"

'Oh,' Percy thought. 'That one. But...' Aloud, he asked, "If they were four of you, then why was she the only one? And why are you alone?"

She quieted for a while. "Hylla and Carter were both taken already. Sadie was found when we were trying to get Hylla and Carter out. So it's just me now."

"Why aren't you trying to help them, then? And why are you telling me this? We've only just met, and I don't even know your name."

"For a stranger, you have a lot of questions." She sounded amused. "I'm eight and while I know how to fight well enough, there's no way I could get all three of them out of jail. Besides, I trust them to be able to get themselves out, the three of them are good at this."

After a pause, she continued, "And I tell you this because you are obviously clueless, seen in that you did not get up and start running the moment you were knocked over and seen by those villagers, so you would probably like a warning. They might ignore you if you were a girl, but you are a boy, so after they got Sadie, they would start looking for you. Think of this as an apology for Sadie knocking you over and letting you be seen in the first place."

Percy blinked. "Why would I need to start running?"

Reyna sighed, as if saying, "See what I mean?" In the back of his mind, Percy could not help noticing how for an eight year old, Reyna behaved like she was the older one here - patronising and treating him like a child. "The newest law passed down says that any male between age fifteen and twenty-nine from the few highlighted village would have to serve in the army for Royaume for at least twelve years, total. A few of the boys from this village have bolted, so they are taking whoever they could to fill replace the missing people. Any boys not accounted for by their parents would be taken. And you are wandering around here alone."

On his part, Percy was shocked. His father could not have passed a law like that, could he? Jupiter was a just person, he would not do things like this. 'Desperate people do desperate things,' nagged a voice at the back of his head. Jupiter had not been on good terms with the Royaume officials and there had been threats of a war breaking out a while back. It disappeared mysteriously, though, and Percy had never wondered much about why. 'Don't think too much into it,' Percy decided.

He settled for asking, "There's another reason you approached me, right?"

There was only a slight change in her expression when she was called out. Pursing her lips a little, she looked down for a while, contemplating something, before she asked, "Do you know how to fight?"

Surprised, Percy looked at her. "Well, I know the theory behind fighting and how to handle each weapon… Why is it important?"

"I know I said I trust them to be able to get themselves out of jail, but it is better to get them out earlier, as the deadline is nearing and the people here are getting desperate. I can't do this alone, and you could get in there without being called out of it. It's not that hard, all you need to do is get in."

Seeing Percy's disbelief, she hurriedly amended, "Well, it would not be all you need to do, but…"

Percy did not have the heart to tell her that he wanted to go home. For all he knew, those people were her family and she had just lost all three of them in one go. Besides, if what she said was correct, then those villagers would be after him anyway, so she was right in saying that it would not be hard for him to get captured. Getting out is the problem, but he could trust her in saying that it would not be that hard, right?

* * *

><p>"...He pushed down on it."<p>

Nothing happened. Then, silently, the carving of the man holding the Trident rotated, flipping around to reveal a carving of a seven flowers growing on a stalk. There was nothing special about it, unless you count the fact that all of them were facing the same direction. Grover let out a huff of frustration. He was so sure that this was it!

They stared at it for a while after that. There was no change. The light streaming in illuminated the tip of the top flower. Kira was frowning a little at the thing.

"What are you two looking at?" Came the ever familiar voice of Hercules.

"There's a carving here," Grover told him, eyes on the floor now. A little nervously, he added, "But there does not seem to be anything special about it except for the fact that it the wall it was carved on can rotate itself." Daring a glance up, he noticed, in the corner of his vision, the expression on Kira's face. It disappeared almost immediately, however, for a split second, there was alarm and dismay. 'What was that?' Grover wondered.

"It can rotate? Then it's hollow!" Triton's eyes gleamed. "Well, we'll just break it down! There could be a passageway behind this thing."

"Wait," Hercules warned, "you should not be so brash."

"The trident could be right behind this wall! We need to break it down."

"With what?" Kira asked. Triton studied their supplies and the wall thoughtfully. His expression soured.

"I suppose we'll have to get more tools." With that, he strode towards the mouth of the cave, expecting the others to follow. Hercules did, after a sigh and a shake of his head.

Kira glanced at Grover once before following the two of them out. Grover looked at the carving with a little hesitance. Now that he was alone, he felt a little uneasy. As if he had done something wrong, by telling Triton and Hercules about the carving. He shook it off when Triton called for him to follow.

* * *

><p>Waiting near the entrance of the village according to the plan, Percy was starting to reevaluate his life decisions. Especially the decision to help the girl. The nameless girl. Why didn't he think to ask her for her name? At least he could spend this time trying to figure out exactly who she was, she looked a little familiar. Now he was standing, waiting to be found, ready to start running. The only thing he had right now was a sketchy plan that might fall through at any moment and the word of a stranger that she would not let him fail. He was armed with only a small bottle filled with a mixture designed to make everyone feel drowsy. He only had her word that the concoction would work.<p>

He was tempted to quit and leave. There was a chance he could get away from all this.

'But I promised,' Percy thought. He sighed internally. He hated breaking his promises.

The moment he was spotted by one of the villagers, he took off for the plains outside the village, making his way to the next. The villager took the bait, yelling for the others to help. The chase was over far too quickly, ending when Percy was knocked out by something thrown at his head.

* * *

><p>Grover looked around, trying to spot Percy as they walked back. Rationally, he knew that this is place you cannot be found in if you got lost, however, he still hoped to find his best friend. Deep inside, he still hoped to be able to find his friend blundering towards them, although rationally he knew that once you get lost in a place like this, you do not simply get found again. Kira had ignored Grover completely. Hercules seemed to be occupied with memorising landmarks and Triton was carving marks to help lead them back to the cave. The company travelled in silence back to the palace.<p>

When they reached the palace, Kira and Grover were dismissed as the two princes went to talk to their father. When the two of them were out of sight and hearing, Kira asked Grover, "Do you even have any idea what you did when you told them about that? Triton's going to destroy that cave trying to find the trident. That carving was a clue, and Triton's going to ruin it." He closed his eyes for a while. He sounded resigned when he opened his eyes and cautioned Grover, "Next time, think before you talk."

Grover watched him leave. Then, he turned to look at the path they had came from, wondering exactly what was the clue in the carving.

* * *

><p>Percy woke up with a start. He could not quite remember what happened in his dream to make him so unsettled, but it did not matter much right now. His head hurts. For a moment, he had no idea what was going on, then he remembered the thing hitting his head and all the events leading up to it. He winced as he put his hand to the place where the bump is. Then he sat up and looked around, intending to find the people he was here for.<p>

It was easier than he expected, since there were only about five cells in the shed-like hut and only three other was occupied. There were two girls and a boy other than him. Patting his pocket, he realised that they had not searched him. Making sure the guard was not paying attention, he slipped the bottle through the bars into the cell next to his - the one occupied by the other boy, Carter. "Hey," he hissed, capturing Carter's attention.

Carter looked at him, then at the bottle lying there. He looked at the guard once, then, cautiously, scooted closer, scooped the bottle up and examined it. Eyeing the guard once more, he moved even closer and looked nonchalant as he whispered out of the corner of his mouth "Where did you get this from?" He whispered.

"Reyna gave it to me, she said it would-"

"-put people to sleep," Carter finished for him. He looked at the guard again. He was clearly thinking of something. He then shifted back to his original spot.

Percy was a little confused when Carter still sat there and did nothing even after quite some time has passed. Deciding that staring at Carter was suspicious, he settled down in a comfortable position and resigned himself to waiting for whatever Carter was waiting for.

* * *

><p>Leo's thoughts were chasing each other around in circles. They were not getting anywhere. He was starting to regret not listening to his parents and staying out of dangerous 'adventures'. He was also a little annoyed.<p>

He did not get to investigate that cracked ice. Although he could conclude that this unknown boy was the cause, it only generated more questions. For example, why was the boy even out there in the first place? Also, how long had he been there? Surely his parents could not have left him there to freeze to death on his own. Even if they had, how did they get him there, with a wolf to top it off? A wolf who was sitting there, on guard and giving him a look that told him it would kill him if he so much as looked at the boy the wrong way. Which does not make sense on so many levels, as wolves are not supposed to be sentient. Even if they were, there was no possible way for him, Leo Valdez Beckendorf, apprentice to the best blacksmith in the land, be able to understand wolves. It is just not logically possible. He was starting to question logic, though, since he was equally as sure that blizzards were not meant to occur so suddenly and the other side of the Wall was not meant to be inhabitable.

Stop it, he told himself silently. Think straight. If this boy was strong enough to survive on the wrong side of the Wall, then he must be either a Royaume personnel or an important person from Fiamme di Guerra. That was the only possible way he could have been trained well enough to tough it out on his own. Whichever case it was, he should have been reported when he went missing and Leo would have heard of him at some point of time or the other. Which led to him realising that he did not know the other boy's name.

He cleared his throat to get the boy's attention and almost wilted under the look he was given, but he smiled and introduced himself. The boy told him that he was called "Nico", which confused Leo a little more. It did not sound much like a name of someone from Royaume and it sounded even less like a name of someone from Fiamme di Guerra. Well, there was an exception to every rule, of course. So he repeated it back, hoping that he could get a little more from the boy in the room with him. The boy who was not paying any attention to him.

He had confirmed that 'Nico' was his name a little absentmindedly while something like worry flitted across his face. Oh, right. He was hurt. Remembering the lessons he had taken from Rachel on how to treat wounds, he decided to help the boy. He did not expect Nico to react the way he did when he took hold of the boy's arm to see exactly how much damage was done to it. It actually made him firmer in his belief that the boy was trained for combat and was likely raised in the military environment.

After all, when someone touches you, a normal person's first instinct would not be to reach for empty air somewhere in a fluid and practiced motion, as if reaching for a weapon that was not there. He froze then, his eyes flicking up to meet Leo's. There was defiance there, as if daring Leo to point out the problem. He behaved a little like a cornered animal. The wolf, sitting passively moments before, had crouched down, hackles up and glaring at him.

Leo was pretty sure animals were not supposed to be capable of glaring.

The standoff lasted for a while, before the wolf stood down, well, sat down, and started grooming. The tension stopped running as high, which was quite a relief for Leo. He was not accustomed to people quite like the kid he was facing now. Nico looked down next, holding his arm out for Leo. Accepting the truce of sorts, Leo was ready to help him clean it out when he realised that the only source of water he had was the waterskin he left behind on the caravan.

He settled for wrapping it up with a strip of cloth first, focusing on making sure the task was completed to perfection. Then, he asked, a little tentatively, if there were anyone waiting for him. Leo suspected that the answer would be no, and his prediction came true when Nico looked at him a little blankly before answering that he had no one to go back to as of now.

He proposed for Nico to come with him to their caravan. The leader would probably curse him out silently, but his request would not be denied, since he was the son of their ruler of sorts, after all. Besides, they were not cold hearted people and Nico looked helpless enough. Honestly, he actually looked a little fragile, like he would break easily and was on the brink of fainting and collapsing.

Not that he was going to tell the boy that, of course. He had no intentions of finding out just how lethal the boy was.

* * *

><p>As Nico made sure that the door was closed properly behind him, he tried to figure out the other boy's motives. Why would he help someone he picked up on the wrong side of the Wall? Which brought his thoughts back to why, exactly, was the boy on the wrong side of the Wall. Lupa nudged him and he realised, with a jerk, that the other boy was already quite a distance away and was currently waiting for him to catch up.<p>

He fell into step behind Leo and followed him as they picked their way across the ruins of Olympus, towards the caravan, wherever it was. Nico wondered if Apollo's group or the NightWatch was still around, although he knew it was unlikely. They had duties, better things to do than search for him, especially if they were not even sure if he could be found without them losing even more of their people. He was just one person.

Leo led him to the edge of Olympus, next to the mountain range. They trekked through one of the pine forests surrounding the base of the mountain and arrived at a campsite. There was a few caravans parked at the side of the site. The moment he arrived, Leo was grabbed by a girl who seemed to be telling him off. She was joined by two others. Apparently, he was supposed to have been back quite a while ago. Nico observed the scene quietly, moving to blend in with the shadows, as was his habit.

He was looking at the tents pitched in the area, trying to figure out which one Leo was probably assigned to, when he felt people watching him. It was unnerving, to look back and realise that three girls were staring at him. They were looking at him with a little pity, as if he had nowhere to go to. Which was, in a sense, true, as there was no way he could make his way home in this condition. That did not mean that he needed, or wanted, their pity. Defensively, he raised his chin slightly and Lupa bared her teeth a little, moving closer to him. His eyes flicked over to where Leo was, wondering what, exactly, did Leo tell the girls.

Leo grinned then, looking slightly nervous. "Um, Nico, we would need to talk to the leader if you want to stay here," he said as he moved over and took his hand, a little gingerly. As if he was afraid that Nico would react badly. Nico wanted to growl at him. He did not need to be treated like a wounded, cornered and scared animal.

* * *

><p><em>I know that I should have updated sooner, but I was kind of distracted by some other projects. There's "There's Someone Outside The Window", which I finished and posted, but there would be other long projects that would have around 17 chapters or so. So, I can only guarantee 1 updatemonth, of course, I may update more if inspiration strike and I have the time. Please review and let me know how I've done so far!_


	8. Chapter 7: Nowhere To Run

Chapter 7 is up! This chapter goes right back to Leo/Nico scenes and the switched scenes were worked on. Hopefully, if this keeps up, once Percy reaches home, he'll meet Nico. Oh, and because the timeline doesn't match up, can we just assume that the little exploration trip Grover took was when the events in this chapter happens? Thanks! The currency used for this fiction is fixed too, the Athenian monetary system. Go to my profile page for the link to the website explaining the conversion.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)

Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive.

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

**Chapter 7: Nowhere to Run**

There was little debate over whether or not Nico would stay with them once the caravan leaders met him. To be honest, when Nico showed up injured and a little frightened, or rather, stunned, into silence, he would have been accepted. They were not cruel enough to abandon a boy who so obviously needed help in the middle of the ruins of Olympus. Even if they were to leave him, they would turn him out in an inhabitable place where a kid would have a chance at surviving on his own. The wolf was the only reason there was a slight bit of hesitation. Leo don't blame them - anyone would hesitate before they take in a wolf. The rigid and awkward way Nico stood there, looking uncertain about what they have decided for him definitely sold him as a poor, abandoned and helpless kid, though, and they would not have turned him out.

Of course, after Nico walked out, Leo was interrogated about where the boy with the wolf had came from again. He smiled and pretended that he was telling the truth as he told them that Nico was a boy he chanced upon when he was exploring. (They do not need to know exactly where he was exploring, or where he had chanced upon Nico.)

After he escaped from that, he headed back to his caravan, which he was now sharing with Nico as well as the three Beauregardes. The wolf choose to run after them, sitting in with them sometimes. The arrangement was made on a silent agreement, and the girls fussed over Nico, as expected. Leo was never going to forget the way Nico had looked when they cornered him to force feed him the medicinal soup they had cooked.

On the route back, they passed by more villages. Those people in Royaume were quiet and talked a lot less about politics, unlike the people from villages and towns further off from the capital of Royaume. The rumours circulating were few and far between, and even those were no more harmless than the who-is-marrying-who rumours.

Of course, trade was still bustling as curious people come to visit the caravan and walked away with some strange trinket to brag about. Some people came because they had seen the wolf - Lupa, and was interested. It was always full house when they opened the storytelling sessions, where they shared wild tales and told of stories old and new, of legends and myths and heroes that were no longer around. They made sure that the material would be appropriate, though, for it was highly possible that there were people who still reports to the task force of Royaume, the Militia Officiele. Those people has as much power as the royalties - they were the ones who carried out the orders and maintain a strong hold over the people, after all. It was not worth it, to risk that wrath.

They were at a village near the borders to Anulet when they ran into the Militia Officiele. Leo had been ready to thank his lucky stars that they had not ran into those people in this trip, for he had heard the stories, when they were halted by a group of people in chainmail armours. They were asked to step out and line up, when the Militia declared that they should go through everything in the caravan in case they were smuggling illegal items. Leo could feel Katie practically vibrate with rage at the disrespect and the way their items were thrown around haphazardly. He suddenly found himself glad that the wolf had ran off into the forest nearby, as she was prone to do. Leo had grown fond of the wolf, surprisingly, and he did not want to see her killed. Besides, she definitely counted as "illegal".

When they took the food and passed it on to one of the villagers who was passing by, Katie seemed to have decided that enough was enough. "What are you doing?" She demanded, as she stepped out. Their caravan leader looked alarmed and pulled her back, but the soldiers had heard her and turned to look at her. The one nearest leered at her.

"Oh, look, a pretty girl who seems to think that she knows better than us," he mocked. He moved closer to her. Katie leaned back, against Leo. She stood her ground, though.

"We earned those. You have no right to just take anything you want! You've already searched everything. Now leave," Katie snapped. Leo was torn between admiring her for her courage and being alarmed about her lack of self-preservation.

A dangerous glint entered the soldier's eyes. To his other side, Leo could feel Nico tensing up. "Are you new here, girl?"

Katie glared at him, not even gracing him with words.

He smiled lecherously. "Let me...educate you, then." He stalked closer.

"We make the rules here. We have the right. You are not our people, but you obey our rules when you are here. And, of course, you have more than enough food. So we will help our people by giving what you do not need to them."

"We need those items for our own people too."

The soldier invaded her personal space. Leo got a full blast of the bad breath as he opened his mouth to speak. He was standing right beside Katie, after all. He couldn't keep from wrinkling his nose and shifting away. Luckily for him, the soldier did not notice, and the rest seemed to be entertained enough by the standoff between Katie and the soldier.

"Let me rephrase that. Your needs are not greater than ours or our people's. Of course, you could exchange for them. You are pretty enough, and," he licked his lips slightly, "we could have a lot of fun."

Katie stumbled back has he reached out. She need not have done that, because suddenly, Nico was standing there, between her and the soldier. Leo had no idea how and when he got there, but he was slightly awed. Nico was about two-thirds the height of the guy he was staring down and it seemed as if he was winning.

The soldier did not huff, but he did step back. "Your fiancé?" He asked, jeeringly.

"You can have the food," Nico told him. The unspoken threat was just as clear to everyone present.

The soldier turned to his companions. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled. They went back to taking the food and passing them to whoever walked by. If no one was around, they just dumped it into the sacks they have apparently brought with them. They took all the tents and some of the clothings too.

After they were done, they took the food and left. The people from the caravan moved to pick up their items and pack them back properly silently. Leo wanted to help, but there was not much for him to do. He noticed that Katie seemed to be frozen slightly, just staring at the spot the soldier was standing in when they argued. Nico had disappeared.

* * *

><p>They moved on to the next village, a border town that lies just in Anulet territory. Out of supplies, they had to make do with a roadside inn that only travellers would go for. Apparently, the place was haunted, and the innkeeper was supposedly a witch who dabbles in voodoo and black magic. It was the cheapest inn, though, and there was actually quite a lot of empty rooms. The innkeeper seemed quite happy to have so many customers and offered them an her son's room when they ran out, saying that her son would not be home for quite a while and they could pay half for that room. It was quite a deal, so they had agreed, and Leo was to share that room with Nico.<p>

Sometime after they settled down, Lupa slinked into the room. She settled down on top of Nico, making herself comfortable.

The bed was just big enough for Nico and Leo, they were both quite small, after all. Leo had taken over his half of the bed and was asleep. Nico stared at the ceiling and contemplated what he should do next. Going home was out of the options - he could probably scrap up enough to last him back to Olympus but he was still injured and from there on, he had to survive based on Lupa's ability to hunt and his own ability to fight. There was no guarantee that the tribespeople were completely gone, and he could run into predatory animals in the mountains.

Leo had grown on him, as had the girls and Lupa had accepted all of them. Besides, he had recognised the predatory look the soldier approaching Katie had given her. He understood what that person wants, even if Katie only knew on a subconscious level that it meant bad news. He would not let that happen to her as long as he could help it, so he would have to at least make sure to keep her safe.

He was not going to get anywhere with his thoughts if he stayed here and stared at the ceiling, Nico knew. He decided to get familiar with the area, since they might be here for quite a while to stock up for the journey. Maybe he would get somewhere with his plans for the immediate future, too.

Lupa lept of him when he shoved at her weakly. Leo did not stir when Nico slipped out of the bed and was replaced by Lupa. She whined at him but did not make to follow him as Nico walked out of the room.

The sun was setting and most of the people were packing up their stalls as Nico walked along the dirt roads. No one noticed him, which suited him just fine. To be honest, Nico felt a little exposed without Lupa with him although rationally, he knew that he could take care of himself. Even if only one of his arm was currently functional.

He was rounding the corner at an empty stall when he spotted the poster. The numbers there caught his eyes and curiousity prompted him to go and see what it was about. It turned out that the poster was about an upcoming competition. The prizes for the top three sounded too good to be true, though. A plot of land as well as 1000 drachmas for getting the first prize? Well, there was the part where the winner needs to go for military training, so it's the family who would be spending the money and using the land, still, it sounded way too unreal. To register, one needs to pay 3 drachmas, though.

There were two categories, so there would be six winners. Three for archery and three for the open category, where the task you are expected to perform is only revealed on the day itself. Nico knew that he could push it and enter for archery, he was fairly confident that he could win, but the consequences were not worth it. That might result in permanent injuries that he was not prepared to deal with, besides, from the way this seems to be, they were recruiting for a personal army, so the skill sets they require should not be out of his range of abilities. He should be able to pass without much problem. As for the training… He would cross that bridge when he got there. That he would register was a given, they had given him a place to stay, so he would help them compensate for the loss of their goods this way. A sort of paying back for the help they had offered him. This was something he was capable of doing, after all.

Now all that was left was to go and find out where he could register for this competition at.

* * *

><p>When Leo woke up, he registered that it was really warm. He was about to get up when he realised that there was a wolf. On top of him. He did not dare move after he realised that, afraid that he would wake the wolf accidentally. After a long time frozen in place, Leo started to shift slightly, hoping that he could dislodge Lupa without waking her up. He was halfway done when Lupa cracked open an eye and simply looked at him, seemingly unimpressed. Leo surrendered.<p>

Moving back to his original spot settled Lupa and she went back to sleeping. Leo was left to stare at the ceiling once more, unable to go to sleep or do anything else to that point. He thought about what was going to happen in the foreseeable future. Likely, they would stay in Anulet and try to earn back at least a portion of what they had lost, before they headed back home.

Closing his eyes, Leo tried to picture what his siblings would be doing in his place. Charles would find a shop that needs a hand, preferably a blacksmith shop, and he would offer to teach people his trade too, for a smaller price, enough to tide them by. Rachel would find someone she knew and make some sort of trade that would benefit both sides, or she would find somewhere they would employ a girl who was clearly talented at the arts and work there. Then she would earn supporters and eventually gather enough help to pull through. Bast… she would have fought those guards who had taken their goods and make sure that they had never been taken in the first place. Opening his eyes, he glared at the ceiling. 'And what did I do? Absolutely nothing. Except pick up some boy with a wolf, adding to the strain,' Leo thought, slightly bitter. He knew he should not be blaming Nico, but he could not help but think that if he had not wandered off and delayed the trip by a day, they might not have ran into the guards at all.

Speaking of which, where was Nico? As far as Leo could see, there was no signs that the boy had even been in the room, with the exception of the rather noticeable wolf still curled up on him. As if sensing his worry, the wolf opened her eyes again. This time, though, after glaring at him sleepily (can wolves even glare?), she stood up on him. It felt like there was a tonne of weights on his abdomen. He was really, really glad when she leapt off.

After he sat up, he did an actual survey of the room he had conked out in.

It looked rather normal and homey, with the air of being lived in once. There was a pile of scrolls to one side of the room, next to a table. The place did not look like an actual room that was for rent. Leo's mind scrambled to recall what, exactly, did the women - Maria? Marie? - say about this room. It was someone's room, right? Her nephew or niece or something like that.

Then the door opened and a stranger walked in. He paused at the door and kind of went wide-eyed as he took in the wolf now growling at him. When he looked up, Leo found himself staring at someone who looked exactly like how Leo had pictured the satyrs from the myths he used to be told. There was confusion clearly evident as the stranger hastily backed out of the room, stopping when Lupa stopped growling. He then stood awkwardly at the doorway and smiled at Leo uneasily.

"Uh...Hi? That's a really strange dog hybrid you have, I like her, no offense, but she is strange, I think it is a she, oh, wait, is it a he? But it looks like a she and I usually could tell with animals, did you know that she looked like a wolf? And, uh, could you get your wolf to stop looking at me like she is barely restraining herself from jumping and killing me? I mean, I know that you likely get this from everyone, but, uh, I like her and I like being alive and I would like it if she did not kill me and I do not mean to offend, really…" he finished in one breath, trailing off when Leo held up a hand.

"Is this your room?" Leo asked, straightaway.

"Uh, well, mom sometimes rents my room out if the inn is full, which is really really rare but it happens."

The two of them stayed there in silence for a while after that. Finally, Grover decided to break the silence, stating, "Uh, well, it's nice knowing you, but I've gotta go…" before he made for the stairs and disappeared.

'That's a really fast runner,' Leo noted subconsciously, trying to figure out what this meant. Does that mean that he would be sharing with Nico and… he did not even remember to ask the boy for his name. Leo glanced at Lupa. The wolf stood guard at the door, keeping her gaze fixated at the stairwell. With nothing better to do, Leo looked at the stairwell, too.

* * *

><p>Maria greeted him rather absently when Grover got to the inn. She waved at him to go to the room, focused on the board in front of her. So he had went, not wanting to be around when she start spouting nonsense at him. It's not that he did not like her, he just got tired of having to placate all the people who were around when she just...changes and freaks them out. That was rather selfish of him, Grover admits, but he really did not want to deal with that right now. So he had listened to her and went to his room.<p>

The thing was, almost every time he left for a long period of time, when he came back, there would be a stranger staying in his room, having paid for it. He had been half expecting people occupying his room this time, too. What he had not been expecting was a dog. At least, he was sure that it was a dog, he had to be sure of that, even though the dog in question looked like a wolf. Because it was absurb to keep a wolf, they were dangerous, there is a reason no one keeps wolves as pets. Right?

The point was, although it was his room, it was rude to chase them out, as they were customers. Besides, he had long since came to accept that his room was one he would have to share with the countless poor travellers who came by when the inn was full. Usually, when this happens, he would ride back to the palace and stay over at Percy's room. This time, though, Percy was not around. Grover was at a loss as to what to do.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry for the late update! I have recently read a lot of good Jasico fics as well as Percico fics, so I'm a little torn between the two. This story will be Percico, I'm sticking with my first ship, but expect some Jasico fics from me too. Some time in the future, hopefully not too far away… I have been stuck in a maze of story ideas recently, but it did not feel right when I wrote them out. Based on the titles, which one would you prefer I write?<em>

_ - Time's Up (Mirror Mirror On The Wall)_

_ - Lights Out_

_ - IS: Anaklusmos_


	9. Chapter 8: The Arena

In this chapter, Frank and Chris will be narrating, since they've been neglected for about 3 chapters. Nico and Leo would be narrating too.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, especially the characters in the story. I just used names that came to me. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Kane Chronicles, Jumong, Ranger's Apprentice, Beyonders, Dormia, Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Hearts, Avengers, Eragon and Google Translate(I used that to generate family names)

Summary: Almost everyone knew that the person sitting on the throne does not belong there. They did nothing, though. Everyone heard of the rebellion that has happened and failed. And everyone knew what happened to those that joined. Perhaps they knew not who was the leader and what happened to the person, but they knew enough to know that joining the second wave, led by a successor, is dangerous - you only join if it's the last option. This time, though, it was not just straightforward swords, spears, shields, arrows and democratics. This time, unseen, other forces were gathering too. A storm was imminent - and if the throne is not returned to its rightful owner, it would grow to become a hurricane no one would survive.

'Thoughts'  
>"Speech"<p>

**Chapter 8: The Arena**

"Welcome to the 7th annual Range-Arena Competition!"

As the announcer spoke, he unlatched the door, allowing it to swing open and reveal the royal arena. The crowd cheered as he did that, for it was only open to the commoners on special occasions, such as celebrations and inter-kingdom competitions. Leo was just as enthusiastic, this was, after all, the first time he would be watching the competition Anulet was famous for. This competition was one of the rare times they would allow people from other lands who were not traders to enter the kingdom.

That aside, this was also the first time they would be changing the game rules. The competition's arena was unique, as only the spectators would be seated within. The actual competition takes place in one of the forests in the mountain ranges next to Anulet, the ones that almost no one visits. It was said to be a perilous place, and it was rumoured once you get lost there, you cannot find a way back.

Everyone from the cavern was here at this competition, with the rest of the citizens, to watch this competition, as they do every year when they pass by. Sure, they were all in a bad spot now, but everyone enjoys a little fun and games. They do need to cheer up. As they streamed in with the rest of the crowd to fill out the grandstand, they made sure to stick close together. The agreement was that if they were separated, they will meet back at the little inn they had pretty much rented out.

As he was being jostled around, he spared a thought to wonder, for a moment, where Nico was. No one had seen him since a day ago and Lupa had slinked off somewhere. Then he noticed the set-up in the middle of the empty ring - a giant panel-like mirror which curved slightly, blocking out the entrance, sealing the arena. It was gigantic, rising up towards the sky, showing a spectacular view of the competitors' arena - from the sky. "Magnificent, isn't it?" Echo commented. Leo had to agree.

"They do this partly to show off and to intimidate," she continued. "It's all part of diplomacy, you see. They need remind their neighbours that they do have an advantage many does not have, their preservation of one of the only magical artefacts included."

Leo was slightly distracted from the conversation as the mirror showed the competitors, standing in a malformed row. Surprisingly, there were barely thirty of them there. "Isn't there usually more people than this?"

"It could be the change in rules. That might have deterred some of the competitors," Echo rationalised. "In the previous few times the competition was held, the only weapons allowed was the bows they provide, so as to make this competition fairer, but this time, they are allowing competitors to enter with other long ranged weapons that are less conventional. Now, they're allowing throwing daggers too. Of course, the rule that no competitor is allowed within a three metre radius of another competitor knowingly is still in place, however, the risk is higher. After all, there are no rules in place to ensure that the competitors cannot eliminate each other."

It took Leo a moment to process the words. "Killing is allowed?" he finally asked, disbelief visibly colouring his tone. Wasn't this meant to be a friendly competition?

"There has been, and always will be, deaths. No penalty has ever been imposed, as no one has ever been caught. Usually, they don't get caught, as around half of them will make it out at the end and even though those who ended up as a pincushion for arrows were definitely killed by one of the others, no one would know who, for all the arrows were standardized. Besides, even without the competition within the competitors, they face danger from the predators living in the mountains too." Echo sounded detached, coolly uninterested.

"Then the winner is still determined by the most number of prey, isn't it?"

"With less competitors, there is less competition for the same amount of preys in the area, thus it would be easier to get more with less effort. This gives them a higher chance to winning. Also, if there is only one person left, by default, the person will be named winner."

"Then they encourage the killings too?"

"The point of this game is to help them sieve out the best, get them and train them to be better, then have them serve the kingdom. To do that, they need people who would not be afraid of getting their hands dirty. They would never announce it, but they want people who would be able to do this things for them. After all, there is a dark side to everything."

"Things?"

When Echo did not reply for quite some time, it became obvious that she was not going to make any comments and was no longer interested by the conversation, or want to continue it.

As the announcer started introducing the competitors, Leo went back to studying them. There was six who caught his eye immediately - the only two females in the competition, Jennifer Dalby and Madelyn Wilkyre, the big, bulky hunk of a man who was about three times the size of the Madelyn named Erak Altman (or was it Eric? Leo wasn't quite sure), the boy in black on the other side of Erak, with his head held high and a calculating look in his eye, Will Selethen, not nearly as tall as the giant next to him even though he exuded a certain amount of confidence that boosted him even though he was not actually there, in the arena and Icon Elidano, who was standing next to Jennifer. Then there was the last one, Cino Miller, the boy in a jacket who was barely shoulder-height of those to his either side despite those people being of a fairly reasonable height.

Both Cino and Icon looked ridiculously small and breakable, almost fragile. Both were equally slender and willowy, almost feminine. From this perspective, Leo was sure they were twins, since they have the same build and preferred the same slightly defensive stance. He was also pretty sure they would look ridiculous holding the bows that were provided, since most of them could be around their height, as the competition was designed for people who were slightly taller and generally older. Even Madelyn was tall enough to use the bows, and she was shorter than most in the competition.

Of course, they most likely would have chosen to use their own weapons, so it may not matter to them. Leo certainly hoped so. He wanted one of them to win.

* * *

><p>The arena reminded Nico of home. There was just as many trees here as back home, although the trees here were not either evergreen or leafless. There was also no snow here, no frozen creeks and brambles growing around dead trees. The main difference, though, was that he could not let Lupa run free and do what she does best here, in this foreign forest. She could not enter with him, he did not want her to be well known. To minimise chances of being recognised, he had taken on another name, even though he knew that no one here knows him. It still felt safer, pretending he was someone else.<p>

Nico let his mind wander a little as the soldier who led them here repeated the rules once more. Try not to die, bring back as many prey as possible, stay within the boundaries…. that was really about the gist of it.

His thoughts wandered down the road leading to home. He knew that he needed to go home, although it was going to be really, really tough to do so since he was currently in the heart of one of the more reclusive kingdoms within the land. And if he wins this competition, he most certainly would not be getting out of this place soon, not if he wants to keep his conscience clear and keep the people who had helped him safe. He had joined this competition to repay them, not ruin them, and he would do that. He had to win.

He wished that he could keep Lupa with him. He was a good hunter on his own, but with Lupa, they could clear the forest within hours, not days.

Most of his competitors were pretty normal. There were a few he might need to be concerned about, though, after some evaluation. The tall, bulky one was going to be a problem, since he actually had a brain despite his appearance, although Nico was more worried about the other boy, the one who looked almost like him.

Since he relied on his size and the fact that he looked harmless, he was sure that the other boy would see through him as the other one likely relies on the same tactics. That means that being underestimated by that one would be out.

There was also the portly girl who looked homely and welcoming, like the friendly chiefs he met at the inn, the ones who gave him extra food because they thought he looked too skinny. She didn't seem like much, but from what Nico could observe when they were warming up, she was surprisingly agile and fast. Nothing indicated at her ability to fight, however, it was likely that she was more than capable. The lean girl was pretty average, except that Nico had seen her with a bow and he silently admired her skill. Her standards were almost on par with that of the Hunters and the NightWatch, even if they were not comparable to his family's. She was also good at tracking fast, moving objects, and Nico was quite certain that she hunts for a living. She would be a threat, too. Although, from the way she eyed the bows they were given, it was highly likely that she was going to use her own weapons.

Of the remaining, there was only one who seemed to be capable of being a real problem. The first impression he gave was that he was average, perfectly normal, just like all the other competitors - good enough to be confident about his chance at surviving, not too sure he might win but was capable of winning at least a consolation prize to bring home, not "special' enough to stand out.

Closer up, though, his eyes stood out. Unlike so many of the others, they were of two different colours - blue and brown. They were also emotionless, almost lifeless. They were cold, the eyes of someone who would not hesitate at taking someone else's life. If eyes were windows to the soul, that was a clear indication towards the sort of person he was likely to be.

Nico had the habit of making sure he knew what he was jumping into, and he liked taking only calculated risks. So he knew that many competitors always died, which was a reason many choose not to participate. That was another reason he was careful in observing his opponents. He had counted himself lucky when he was first introduced to the rest of the competitors in the arena they were to warm up in. Majority of them were more inclined to stick to competing according to the rules. This one, however… his was ruthless, efficient and smart. Smart and cautious enough to seek out a secluded area in the arena instead of picking a comfortable but public corner when they were given free reign of the facility.

Nico tailed him quietly, just to get a gauge on this one's ability. What Nico saw was enough to give him pause. He knew that this person probably intended for no one to notice him and follow him, which was why he gave Nico a reason to pause and actually worry a little.

Nico was not entirely sure that he would win if it came down to a fight between the two of them.

If he was going to win, he decided, he would have to avoid all these people, especially the multi-coloured eyed one. He didn't really want to have to hurt them, let alone kill them, although he wasn't above playing dirty if needed.

* * *

><p>Frank was ready to get on his horse and go home even before dinner was served. He was especially tempted to do just that as dinner dragged on, filled with stilted political talk. It was, however, customary for them to stay for longer than a few minutes, to show that they accept the hospitality of their hosts.<p>

There was also the fact that Eros and Hermes had to talk things over and reaffirm the treaty upheld between the two kingdoms while Ares still ran Fiamme di Guerra, while negotiating new contracts and deals.

This means that they have to stay for at least a few nights. During the days, they would be visiting places within the kingdom with Hermes' eldest son, Luke. Frank was practically vibrating with excitement, looking forward to the programme. He could not wait for the meals filled with tension. Note that sarcasm.

Truthfully, Frank had nothing against the Castellans personally, even if he was wary of the twins, Travis and Connor. He was simply not interested in being here. He understood that they needed to show that they still stand united as a family despite the passing of Ares, which was why they had been asked to come with Eros, but that did not mean that he liked it.

That aside, Eros had given them a talk prior to their trip that even if they were offered separate rooms, they were to decline politely and room according to an arrangement made beforehand - Thalia with Clarisse and Piper, Frank with Jason. It went without saying that Eros would be rooming with Macaria and the guards would room with the other guards from Cielo.

Hermes showed them to their rooms personally, smiling and saying that he understood when they declined his offers. Then, he led them to the larger rooms, which looked just as pristine as the ones they were originally given. Frank, personally, thought that Hermes was too nice and it was pretty obvious Clarisse thought so too. She snorted after Hermes left and told Frank to stay alive.

After everyone was gone, they surveyed the room. Jason let him choose his bed first. Without thinking about it, he picked the one closer to the window.

He felt bad about giving Jason the bed further from the window, since he had a feeling that something was bound to go wrong, and it would happen soon.

Call him a coward, but he loved being alive, so if things actually go south, he had an easier way out. Not that he would leave Piper behind for anything, but it made him feel safer.

Well. As safe as he could feel in the enemy's territory, that is.

* * *

><p>Somehow, Travis and Connor had roped him into helping them 'dress' the wolf in honey. Chris figured that it was probably the fact that he knew that he could probably hold them back a little when he is with them, and that they would go ahead and do whatever it was they want with or without him.<p>

He had tried to persuade them that it was a bad idea, regardless, especially since the wolf was a wolf. No matter the fact that it was a pet, it was a natural predator in the wild and nothing good could come out of disturbing it.

Unfortunately, Travis and Connor could not see it that way. As far as they were concerned, if it was not domesticated, they would not have kept it as a pet, let alone bring it here. If it was dangerous, they could have it put down lawfully.

While Chris agrees with their evaluation, he did not want to take the risk. He knew, however, that it was hopeless and it was better to just follow them and do damage control. After the amount of times he had tagged along, he had developed a talent for cleaning up after them. He hoped that this time, it would not be needed.

Surprisingly, the wolf was not at the stables when they went there to find it. apparently, it slept with the lady.

"Sleeping with a wolf. What is she, the wolf-lady?" Travis had snorted.

"Well, Chris, at least you wouldn't need to worry about the wolf attacking us. It's definitely a hundred-and-ten percent domesticated," Connor had told him on the way to the room they were informed that Macaria stayed in.

Privately, Chris thought that this could mean that the wolf was probably capable of defending the lady and was therefore kept close by as a bodyguard, but he kept quiet.

Presently, they were passing through the terrace garden, about to enter the rose garden that would allow them to get to the back door.

Someone called out to them.

The words dispelled the silence and peace blanketing the garden in the night. They turned around to see Macaria standing there, her wolf standing next to her.

Eros was nowhere to be found.

"Blast it," Travis muttered, tucking the honey away and moving closer to Chris.

Connor froze on the spot, although it was clear to Chris that both of them suddenly found it in themselves to respect her.

Not many were capable of catching them off guard, after all, let alone sneak up on them and surprise them like this.

He wondered, though. What did she want from them? Since she saw them first, she could have chosen to ignore them and leave. So why did she greet them?

She seemed to sway slightly as she strolled towards them leisurely. The wolf trailed behind her. Chris was pretty sure she had a name… or was it a he?

The closer she got, the more he felt the urge to turn tail and run, even though he could not see any obvious threat. The uneasiness and the feeling that something was wrong stayed, growing with each step she took. Beside him, both Travis and Connor were getting twitchy.

Instinctively, they took each other's hands.

As she got closer, they could see that something was wrong. Both Macaria and her wolf looked… ethereal. They looked faded, reflections of them in real life. Faintly, Chris could see the outline of the plants behind her.

When she came to a stop in front of them, it became clear that she was not Macaria, and the wolf was not the one which followed her. It was a different woman, a variation of sorts. She held out a hand.

Almost in a trance, Chris held out his. She took his hand and leant in.

"You are destined for great things, Chris Castellan. Go to the arena. Follow your heart," she whispered, her voice a breeze chilling his ear.

She stood back and smiled, sadly, almost wistfully. Her wolf winded around Travis' legs and curled its tail around Chris' leg. It nuzzled him before looking up at him. In its eyes, Chris saw an intelligence he could not begin to comprehend.

He looked up to meet the woman's eyes.

She disintegrated in front of the three of them, leaving behind no trace of her presence. The wolf disappeared, too, fading out of existence just like that, leaving behind only a small trace of warmth that was soon chilled.

The only relic from the encounter was the little object she had pressed into his palm when she had taken his hand. His fingers automatically curled around it when he let his arm drop to his side. Somehow, he got the feeling that the gift was meant for him and him alone.

Travis and Connor both agreed that it was just a hallucination, that it never happened. Chris was tempted to believe them. The biting cold of the object in his hand grounded him, though. It reminded him the reality of the woman, telling him that she had actually been there.

Eventually, they agreed to postpone the prank and went back to their respective rooms. Sitting on his bed, he opened his palm. Sitting there was a hairclip. It was simplistic, minimally decorated. And yet, the power radiating from it diffused through him, chilling him to the bone literally. He frowned a little as he flipped it around. The winds in the room picked up speed, lifting up his fringe and brushing past his ear.

It reminded him of her words.

What was she trying to tell him?

What did she mean?

* * *

><p>About the late update, well, I guess that there's no excusing it, is there? Good news is, this chapter went through so many drafts and edits that there is enough material edited out for the next two chapters. In fact, about a quarter of the next chapter is already done. Besides, the holidays are coming up soon, and I finally have my own laptop.<br>I'm sorely tempted to rearrange the whole story or split it up, according to characters. But I won't, since I promised myself I wouldn't make any edits until the story is finished. So, until then, put up with the jumping povs, I suppose. Thanks for sticking with me for this long!


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